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STANDARD No. 47. LIBRARY. 



(fa^is^ 




BY 



Col Duke Bailie. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



CHICAGO: 
RHODES & McCLTJRE PUBLISHING CO. 

1S90. 



Issued Monthly April 1, 1890. Subscription $4 per year. Entered at Chicago Postoffiice 

as Second-Class Matter. 



THE 



CRONIN CASE 



COMPLETE. 



THE ASSASSINATION OF 

DR. PATRICK HENRY CRONIN. 



INCEPTION, CONSUMMATION, DETECTION, 
PROSECUTION AND PUNISHMENT. 



THE MOST REMARKABLE CONSPIRACY 

OF 

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 



AUTHENTICATED FROM OFFICIAL RECORDS BIfc 

DUKE'BAILIE. 



Copyright, 1889, by T. C. MoCLURE. 



^VOFCO/Vcfc 
WQHT 



CHICAGO: 

Rhodes & McClure Publishing Co. 
i8qo. 



MtlO 1890 I 
v 

mi.mGTOW*' 



PUBLISHER'S ANNOUNCEMENT. 



To Citizens of the United States, Native Born or Naturalized: 

When a man or men controlling a Secret Organiza- 
tion can, for their personal benefit, without trial or 
opportunity for defense, condemn to death and^through 
underlings commit murder; and at the same time find 
police and court officials willing to aid their purpose 
before and after the act; when political influence is 
exerted in high places to shield them from punishment; 
when all this transpires, as it has in the Cronin case, 
it is time for American citizens to inquire how far such 
fearful power, so vilely exerted, may not be turned against 
the general good of society and the stability of Na- 
tional existence. 

The discovery of the conspiracy which brought about 
the death of Doctor Patrick Henry CRONiN,in Chicago, 
on the night of May 4th, 1889, lays bare a secret power 
terrible to contemplate; an authority recognizing 
neither the laws of God, Humanity or the land that 
gives them shelter; the evidences of the forces at their 
command, the influences upon which they can rely for 
protection and call upon to shield them from punish- 
ment — all these are trumpet notes of warning that should 
arouse every citizen to action, should incite every true 
man to look well to the safety of himself, his family 
and country — 

" ETERNAL VIGILANCE IS THE PRICE OF LIBERTY." 

(v) 



vi publisher's announcement. 

The Cronin Case furnishes such elaborate details o£ 
personal machination, concerted plotting, deadly work- 
ing, and evidences of such unlimited, wide-spread, abso. 
lute power, that no other conspiracy of the day can 
approach it in interest for the reader or student. 

EOMANOE GROWS TAME BESIDE ITS TERRIBLE REAL- 
ITIES. The truth silences the wildest flights of 

FICTION. 

The general outline of The Cronin Case is too 
familiar to the public to require recapitulation here. 
In this work, every detail from first to last, is intro- 
duced ; the causes leading to the conspiracy against the 
victim ; his condemnation without hearing by a secret 
tribunal; the employment of emissaries for his "re- 
moval;" police and detective force active in aiding the 
murderous deed, and high officials supine in its inves- 
tigation; the preparations, the calumniation of the 
dead; plans to mislead justice; hiding of accomplices 
and witnesses; attempt by court officials to bribe jury- 
men ; prosecution and retribution. 

In short one of the most complex, ingenious and 
terrible plots eve? invented, is traced from its incep- 
tion to the moment its agents are judged by a jury. 

The author from day to day closely watched and noted 
every detail necessary for completing a clear, concise, 
consecutive narrative of the whole. Unnecessary tire- 
some legal verbiage and like superfluities are cast aside, 
and only real, verified facts embraced in the history. 

Without pandering in the least to sensationalisms, 
such style is adopted as to the utmost enhances the 
startling, tragic events recorded. 



Vll 



To Col. Duke Bailie, the well-known journalist and 
popular author, the publisher committed the prepara- 
tion of the work; his contract expired only with the 
ending of The Cronin Case, and when this book, 
bearing that title, was published. 

Col. Bailie having attended the trial from its begin- 
ning until the end, his report of the evidence- and 
speeches, ■ his characteristic sketches of scenes, inci- 
dents, behavior of the prisoners, etc., must necessarily 
be far more complete and satisfactory than the imagi- 
native recitals of writers who assume to furnish "De- 
tective" accounts. His is a bright, stirring story, authen- 
ticated from official records, with facts fresh from the 
lips of witnesses. 

Such a work, produced under such circumstances, 
cannot fail to be of more than usual value. It is a 
book for the library, a work of reference in the future, 
and always a volume of absorbing interest. 

The Publisher. 



CHAPTER CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Introductory — Dangers that Threaten — A Menace to Life and 
Liberty — The Men and Motive — The United Brotherhood 
and the Clan-na-Gael — Objects of the Organization— Per- 
version of Original Plans —From Legitimate Warfare to 
Destruction and Assassination — The Leaders in the New 
Work— Alexander Sullivan, Feeley and Boland — Changes 
in the Constitution — Plundering the Treasury — Betrayal 
of Emissaries — Fighting Against Investigation — Dr. 
Cronin Expelled as a Traitor. - Page 17 

CHAPTER II. 

Who P. H. Cronin Was— A Biographical Sketch of the Man — 
A Brave, True Friend— He Hated Dishonesty and Fought 
Fraud — Early Struggles — Devotion to Ireland and Duty-- 
Why He was Murdered— Words of Praise. - Page 32 

CHAPTER III. 

"Where is Cronin?" — How He left Home — A Mysterious 
Trunk — "Was He Murdered?" — Rumors, Insinuations 
and Theories — Woodruff's Story — Long's Despatches from 
Canada — A Clue at Last — "J. B. Simmons" — Carlson's 
Cottage — Frank Williams — Inside the Cottage — Evi- 
dences of a Tragedy — Detective Coughlin a Prisoner. 
Page - - - 45 

CHAPTER IV. 

Offers of Reward — The Ghastly Find — Dr. Cronin's Body Re- 
covered — Identification — Lying in State — Tributes of 
Regard — The Last Journey — At Rest;"Good-by, Asthore." 
Page ------- 61 

CHAPTER V. 

Three Indicted — Coughlin, O'Sullivan and Woodruff — Biog- 
raphies of the Prisoners — The Master Spirit Still Free — 
(viii) 



CHAPTER CONTENTS. IX 

Coroner's Work Begun — His Jury Visit the Scenes of 
Murder and Burial — Some of the Testimony — Hard on 
O'Sullivan — Mertes Heard the Fatal Blows — Mrs.Conklin 
and O' Sullivan — Their Interview — Luke Dillon's Talk. 
Page ------- 73 

CHAPTER VI. 

Le Caron Speaks — Cronin Anticipated Assassination — Mrs. 
Conklin Testifies — ' : Alexander Sullivan would have Him 
Killed" — Hagerty Repeats Sullivan's Abuse of Cronin — 
Mrs. Lomasney and the Trianglers — Their Cruel, Treach- 
erous Deeds — A Man Sent to Death, His Family Left to 
Starve— Verdict of the Coroner's Jury — Alexander Sulli- 
van in Cell 25, Murderers' Row. - - Page 93 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Chief Triangler Released on Bail — A Special Grand Jury 
— Martin Burke and Patrick Cooney — They Disappear — 
Burke Located in Manitoba — Events from June 15 to 29 
— Identification of Burke — Four More Indicted: Beggs, 
Burke, Cooney and Kunze — Alexander Sullivan's Name 
Not in the Indictment — Bad Records of the Suspects — 
Burke's Fight Against Extradition — Money Lavished to 
Prevent His Return — To October nth. - Page no 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Fateful Documents— The "Treasonable" Clan-na-Gael Cir- 
cular — Dr. Cronin Read It in His Camp— He was Expelled 
and Branded as a Traitor— Its Text Proves that Cronin 
was No Dynamitard— The Scathing Report of Sept. 15th, 
1885, in Full— Cronin's Bold Statements and Proofs — Men 
of Unmindful Minds — The Charges of McCahey and 
Cronin Against the Triangle— Other Papers Left by the 
Victim — Evidences of Trianglers' Brutality. - Page 123 

CHAPTER IX. 

Alexander Sullivan— Born on British Soil and a British Sub- 
ject—In Trade in Detroit- Charged with Arson — Political 
Work, Offices and Quarrels — Marriage — Murders Princi- 
pal Hanford -Twice Tried for Murder — Acquitted— Was 
the Jury Bribed? — Practices Law in Chicago — To the 
Front in Irish Secret Societies — He Flourishes Financially 



X CHAPTER CONTENTS. 

—Becomes a "Plunger" in Stocks— " Lost and Squan- 
dered $95,000 " — Dr. Cronin and His Investigations — Luke 
Dillon Tells What He Knows— Alexander Sullivan's Pro- 
test Against and Vituperation of Dr. Cronin. - Page 154 

CHAPTER X. 

Another Vile Plot Exposed — Attempt to Bribe Jurors — Court 
Bailiffs Implicated —The Guilty Confess — Who and What 
They Are —Were the Defense Lawyers in it? — Arrest of 
the Bribers' Chief Agent — Promises, Not Pay, for Trian- 
gler's Tools — That $8,000 Given Mr. Forrest Causes 
Trouble. ------ Page 172 

CHAPTER XL 

A Jury at Last — The Jurors — First Link Forged — The Prison- 
ers' Bearing — Opening Address of the State's Attorney — 
Defense Has Nothing to Say at Present — Hearing of Tes- 
timony Begins — Witnesses Who Identified Dr. Cronin's 
Corpse — Tactics of Prosecution and Defense - Page 186 

CHAPTER XII. 

Second Day for Testimony — Medical Experts and Mr. Wing 
— Dr. Perkins' Clear Evidence Silences the Surgical Ama- 
teur—October 26th — Dr. Moore and Mr. Forrest — A most 
Dramatic Scene — Messrs. Hynes and Mills in Angry Pro- 
test — Judge McConnell Reverses a Decision — Patrick 
Dinan and His White Horse — Defendants Grow Excited 
as They Listen to the Story. - Page 197 

CHAPTER XIII. 

/; ^Hing Near the Cottage— Mrs. Conklin on the Stand — Good 
Evidence for the State — October 29th — A Line of Know- 
nothing Witnesses — Inside of Camp No. 20 —Unwilling but 
very Important Testimony — Burke's Chum, Colleran— 
No Favors for Frank Woodruff. - - Page 210 

CHAPTER XIV. 

October 30 and 31 — Days of Excitement — War in Camp No. 
20— Brave Captain O'Connor Scores the Triangle— Cough- 
lin's Abuse of Dr. Cronin — Ringing Truths from Patrick 
McGarry — Beggs " Is Proud to be Alexander Sullivan's 
Friend " — Mr. Foster Repudiates Forrest's Tactics — 



CHAPTER CONTENTS. XI 

" Major " Sampson Hits Back — Anything to Save Beggs. 
Page ------ . 221 

CHAPTER XV. 

November i and 2— The Carlsons — Burke — O'Sullivan — That 
Letter — Bad Lookout for Burke — District Officer Edward 
Spelman — A Spell of Oblivion— Justice Mahoney — The 
Police There — The Fatal Cards — Very Warm for the Ice- 
man—Burke Sees Inside the Trunk — Alexander Sullivan's 
Plea. ------ Page 240 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Dr. Cronin's Clothes Found — Out of a Sewer — All Recovered 
but His Purse and Watch — Thieves as well as Assassins 
— Alexander Sullivan's Application— November 8 — Cough- 
lin, Kunze, O'Sullivan and Cooneyin Close Confab — Again 
the Decoy Cards — Experts Testify on November 9— The 
Chief Triangler's Bondsmen Released — November 11 — 
Burke's Tin Box — The "Inner Circle" — O'Sullivan's 
Doctor — The Clothing in Court. - - Page 260 

CHAPTER XVII. 

November 12 to 15 — Coughlin's Admissions — "To Perdition 
with Alexander Sullivan!" — Mrs. Hoertel's Evidence — Dr. 
Cronin's Death Cries — "O, God!" " O, Jesus!" — About 
Burke — Kunze and Coughlin — The German Suspect's 
" Confession " — He Declares Burke Guilty — The Prosecu- 
tion Practically Closed — Two Days Recess — Now for the 
Defense — Mrs. Hoertel's Character. - - Page 275 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

November 16 to 20 — " Journalist " Clancy— The State Rests — 
Testimony for the Defense — Triangular Alibis — The 
Hylands — Ex-Detective Whelan — Sergt. Stift— Cough- 
lin's Alibi — A Procession of Alibi Witnesses — Cold Day 
for Icemen— Jones' Joke —The White Horse Again. Page 291 

CHAPTER XIX. 

November 20 to 29 — An Alibi for Burke — Matt Danahy — 
Ladies on the Stand— Evidence for Beggs — A Horde from 
Camp 20 — More Alibis— Budenbinder's Bomb — O'Sulli- 
van's Defense — To Impeach Mrs. Hoertel — Court Ad- 



Xll CHAPTER CONTENTS. 

journed until November 26— More Alibis Still — The Re- 
buttal Begun — Atomized Alibis — Queer Policemen — Hard 
Swearing to Help Burke — Dr. Cronin's Knives — -Testi- 
mony Ended. - Page 306 

CHAPTER XX. 
Mr. Beggs' Error — Two Days of Terrible Denunciation — 
Narrative of the Murder — Contracted to Kill Dr. Cronin 
— Partnership in Crime — Burke's Flight — His " Hands 
were Red with Blood " — Coughlin's Wife and the Prison- 
er's Friends Listen — Demeanor of the Accused. Page 329 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Mr. Wing's Hour — Monday, December 2 — An Alibi for those 
Knives— Mr. Wing Resumes — Sophistry and Adjectives — 
All the Accused are " Innocent, Much Abused Citizens " — 
What Mr. Wing Did, and Did Not Say — Mr. Ingham 
Speaks — Logic and Invective — The Story Graphically 
Told — Kunze Cries Out— "Bound by Ties of Hatred"— 
A Hurricane of Eloquence. - - - Page 339 

CHAPTER XXII. 
His " Innocent Clients " — Piteous Pleading for Kunze and 
O'Sullivan — Lawyer Donahoe Insists on Their Acquittal 
— They had no Motive for the Crime— No Proof to Con- 
nect Them with the Murder — Ladies Out in Force to Lis- 
ten to the Orator — Incidents of the Day — The Prisoners. 
Page - - - - - - 350 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
A Star Day — Alibis Shredded, Shattered and Scattered — 
Mr. Hynes' Superb Argument — The Secret Committee and 
Camp No. 20 Shown in Startling Colors — That Peculiar 
Police Testimony — Beggs' Complicity in the Crime — The 
Prisoners as They Listen — End of Mr. Hynes' First Day, 
Dec. 5. ► Page 356 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
Mr. Hynes Concludes — More Illumination — Calcium Light 
on the Crime — Beggs Equally Responsible with Cough- 
lin — " Imposed Upon by Men Higher Up" — WilJ Get the 
Truth when " Some Putrid Conscience Shows Forth in 
the Shadow of the Gallows and Tells." - - Page 371 



CHAPTER CONTENTS. Xlll 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Mr. Foster for John F. Beggs— An Angel Without Wings is 
J. F. B., so Says His Lawyer — Glorifying the Ex-Senior 
Guardian — Disparaging Dr. Cronin — Appeals but No 
Arguments — Assertions Without Reasons— Saturday Ends 
This Ingenious Defense. - Page 379 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Forrest for Burke and Coughlin — Smothers the Jury With 
Legal Authorities — Dec. 7 He Opens — " We Believe," He 
Says, "in Analysis; the State in Sophistry" — All Quoting 
and Reading — Mr. Forrest's First Full Day—" Facts Do 
Lie" — Fortunate Martin Burke — Hints of a Hidden Hand 
— " How Was Cronin Killed?"— "There is No Proof That 
He Died in Carlson's Cottage" — "The Trunk Did Not 
Come From the Cottage." - Page 386 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Another Day in Forrest Tangles — " Liars! Perjurers! Mur- 
derers! " — Patent Logic — Pre-arranged Dramatics — Mr. 
F. Hears from Opposing Counsel — Kunze and Coughlin — 
About Alibis — December 1 1 — Forrest Finishes — Vitu- 
peration Against Everybody and Everything — " Poor 
Burke " — Finis for Forrest. - Page 390 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Mr. Mills Too 111 to Speak — State's Attorney Longenecker 
to Make the Closing Address — Drawing Near the End — 
The Closing Speech — A Chain of Circumstances Strong 
as Linked Steel — Mr. Longenecker's Address — Jurors, 
Counsel and Prisoners — They Listen to the Charge of 
The Judge. ------ p a ge 398 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

The Jury Charged— A " Doubting Thomas " — How the Priso- 
. ners Bear Themselves — Jurors Retire — The Trunk, Etc., 
Sent to the Jury-Room — Waiting in the Cells — Decem- 
ber 14 — No Verdict — In the Court-Room— About the 
Attempt to Bribe Juror Dix — Sunday, December 15, and 
Yet no Verdict. ----- Page 404 



XIV CHAPTER CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

The Verdict — A " Compromise " — General Disappointment — 
News of Agreement — Gathering to Hear It — Strange 
Contact— The Prisoners Arrive — The Jury Enter — Ready 
With Their Verdict— The Clerk Reads — Effect on the 
Defendants — About the Compromise — Of The Jury and 
The Verdict — A Brother's Indignation — " Camp 20 is On 
Top Now" — Beggs' Free Advertisement— Loud Spoken 
Discontent. - ----- Page 411 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE. 

DR. P. H. CRON1N (Frontispiece) 

JUDGE McCONNELL _.. 20 

JOEL M. LONGENECKER, STATE'S ATTORNEY __ 28 

THE FATAL CARD 46 

THE COFFIN-TRUNK _ 48 

THE HEARSE-WAGON _ _ 49 

CARLSON'S COTTAGE AND O'SULLIVAN'S HOME... 53 

THE CATCH-BASIN 62 

DR. CRONIN'S OFFICE, WINDSOR THEATRE BUILDING 64 

ENTRANCE, DR. CRONIN'S OFFICE, CHICAGO OPERA HOUSE. 66 

INTERIOR DR. CRONIN'S OFFICE, CHICAGO OPERA HOUSE 69 

DANIEL COUGHLIN 75 

CORONER HERTZ.. _ 80 

T. T. CONKLIN. j _ 80 

ALL BLOOD-BESPATTERED.... 82 

FINGER MARKS ON THE BLIND ._ 84 

TELL-TALE SPOTS ON WALL AND FLOOR 86 

THE BLOODY FOOTPRINTS.. 88 

MARTIN BURKE.. 115 

JOHN F. BEGGS - 115 

PATRICK O'SULLIYAN — _ 117 

JOHN KUNZE 118 

ALEXANDER SULLIYAN _ 157 

W. S. FORREST _ 179 

A SCENE IN COURT 191 

THE JURY: 

W. L. NORTH 187 

JOHN L. HALL... 187 

HENRY D. WALKER 187 

FRANK ALLISON 187 

E. S. BRYAN _ 187 

CHAS. F. MARLOR... 187 

B. F. CLARKE 188 

JAMES A. PIERSON--,^^ 188 

(xv) 



XVI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE. 



CHARLES C. DIX 

ELIJAH BONTECOU - - 

C. L. CORKE 

JOHN CULVER 

SCENE IN COURT ROOM DURING THE TRIAL 191 

JUDGE WING.__ -— - - 

MR. LUTHER LAFLIN MILLS ... 202 

MR. W. J. HYNES 204 

CAPT. THOS. F. O'CONNOR - 225 

PATRICK McGARRY - 230 

PATRICK DINAN - - 230 

CHARLES CARLSON AND THE LETTER__ 241 

JONAS CARLSON - 243 

DISTRICT OFFICER SPELMAN _ _ 251 

'MAJOR" SAMPSON - - 251 

THE COFFIN-TRUNK IN COURT... 254 

THE POCKET INSTRUMENT CASE _ 261 

SURGICAL INSTRUMENT SATCHEL.___ 261 

THE SLASHED CLOTHING. _ 263 

TWO VIEWS OF THE DOCTOR'S HAT. 265 

THE PRESCRIPTION BOOK ... 267 

CHIEF HUBBARD READING DR. CRONIN'S CARDS 269 

CAPT. SCHUETTLER WITH THE FIND 271 

ATTORNEY W. A. FOSTER.. 276 

MRS. PAULINE HOERTEL _ 279 

OFFICER McKINNON 281 

BUDENBINDER - 312 

MERTES (The Milkman). 312 

JAMES F. BOLAND 327 

DR. CRONIN'S KNIVES - - 325 

JOHN J. CRONIN - 333 

"LARRY" BUCKLEY... _ 333 

FRANK T. SCANLAN-.. _ 336 

MR. GEO. C. INGHAM. _ 345 

MR. DANIEL DONAHOE.... . 352 

MR. HYNES BEFORE THE JURY.. _ 369 

DETECTIVE COLLINS.... _ , _. 376 

MRS. T. T. CONKLIN 377 

THE FIVE IN PROFILE _ 392 

HANDING UP THE VERDICT 416 

BEGGS THANKS THE JURY....... 420 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



CHAPTER I. 

Introductory — Dangers that Threaten — A Menace to Life and 
Liberty — The Men aod Motive — The United Brotherhood 
and the Clan-na-Gael — Objects of the Organization — Per- 
version of Original Plans— From Legitimate Warfare to De- 
struction and Assassioation — The Leaders in the New Work — 
Alexander Sullivan, Feeley and Boland — Changes in the Con- 
stitution — Plundering the Treasury — Betrayal of Emissaries — 
Fighting Against Investigation— Dr. Cronin Expelled as a 
Traitor. 

Doctor Patrick Henry Cronin was murdered on 
the night of Saturday, May 4, 1889. 

His "taking off" was basest, most cowardly assassin- 
ation of vilest character; the deed was perpetrated by 
willing hands eager to do the bidding of thieves, who, 
under the guise of patriotism, had forced themselves 
into the leadership of an organization that they might 
rob the treasury of iis accumulated wealth, gained 
from the contributions of toiling, patriotic men and 
women. 

Dr. Cronin was a member of many associations formed 
for action that would tend to liberate Ireland from Eng- 
lish rule. This object was dear to his heart; for its 
furtherance he labored incessantly; he was intensely 
enthusiastic, and he was honest The plunderers who 
reveled in luxury upon their ill-gotton spoil feared the 
outspoken denunciations with which he branded their 
betrayal of trust, they dreaded the investigation he was 

2 (17) 



18 THE CROfrXN CASE. 

forcing upon them, they knew he was strong, in proof, 
that detection was inevitable ; they knew that he could 
be silenced neither by threats, bribes or cajolery. They 
plotted long and carefully, their plans were wide-spread- 
ing and subtle, their vengeance was to follow him even 
after death, his memory was to be reviled by all who 
had ever known and respected him, he was to be 
branded as a traitor to the cause, to be published as a 
renegade, a spy, an " informer." 

Deep brains and minds well skilled by experience, 
prepared the plot, the hands of hireling assassins and 
fanatical politicians struck the fatal blow. 

Apart from the necessity devolving upon the legal 
authorities to detect and punish the principals and ac- 
cessories in this crime, the American people are vitally 
interested in the investigation of the causes, the possi- 
bilities and the powers that can produce such results. 

Herein are plainest facts showing the existence of 
secret societies that acknowledge no moral or statute 
law but their own will. With slow cunning and adroit 
manipulation of the political element at their command 
they have been able to dictate terms to, or demand 
subserviency, from the highest officials of state and city, 
they have unscrupulously squandered the money placed 
in their hands for a special purpose; to further their own 
personal interests and base designs, they have placed 
their minions in the police and detective forces in order 
that the ends of justice might be speedily betrayed and 
prevented, they have found court-bailiffs to act as their 
agents in the attempt to corrupt jurymen ; they still 
found, in the face of damning proof, men of social influ- 



THE ORONIN CASE. 19 

ence, political and financial standing to defend their acts 
and aid in defaming their victim. The dread power of 
these head conspirators was so sufficient that terror of 
them could close the mouths of men who, during a long 
trial, felt each hour and day the hand of Retribution 
grasping, ever closing, about their throats. 

The original object of this organization was, as 
stated by Luke Dillon, the prominent Irish Nationalist, 
to assist a like organization in Ireland and England, 
to establish a Republic in Ireland, and also to bring 
about fraternal feeling among Irishmen in this country 
and to assist in the elevation of the race. But when 
this first design is prostituted to secret trial and cowardly 
assassination of men, that the conspirators' plundering 
may be uninterrupted, their power perpetuated; when 
all this is plainly proven, together with the wide ex- 
tending influence and multitude of fanatical assassins 
at command of this combine of Inquisitorial conspira- 
tors, it is time for the American people to consider how 
dangerous to state and national life it may grow, may 
be even now with such infamous plotters, such ever- 
ready, devoted tools to do their bidding. The national 
honor, welfare, existence, would be of no more value in 
the eyes of these conspirators, would no more restrain 
their acts, than did the life of their unfortunate victim, 
Dr . Patrick Henry Cronin. 

It behooves all men to face these facts and seriously 
consider to what such things may lead. With "naught 
in malice set down," we shall tell the true story of this 
remarkable conspiracy, its wide ramifications, its mur- 
derous work, its attempts to mislead, to bribe jurymen, 




JUDGE McCONNELL. 



(JO) 



THE CRONIN CASE. 21 

to defeat justice; and we hope to record the swift, 
severe punishment of every individual participating in 
the terrible crime. 

The record as given will amply justify these intro- 
ductory remarks, and without further comment this tale 
is begun. 

THE MEN AND THE MOTIVE. 

In the year 1869 there was organized in the United 
States a secret society called the United Brotherhood, 
generally known as the Clan-na-Gael. Its object was 
to effect the liberation of Ireland from England's rule, 
and this by force of arms. From warm hearted, hot 
headed, native born Irish men and women, and even 
children, this association received most enthusiastic 
moral support, and into its treasury, for the purpose 
named, were poured the hard-gained earnings of toiling, 
trusting multitudes until the sum collected amounted to 
hundreds of thousands of dollars. The majority of 
these people were sincere, were honest in the belief that 
they were doing simply their duty to their native land, 
and they stinted themselves without murmur and re- 
sponded ungrudgingly to the incessant demands of their 
leaders. 

Into this organization went Irishmen for political 
purposes, to secure their own advancement, and into it 
entered Irishmen for plunder. Every member of this 
secret band was required to be of Irish birth or descent, 
their oath bound them to loyalty to Ireland, every 
movement was to be with intent to free that land when 
the time for action in that direction arrived — not by 



22 THE CRONIN CASE. 

peaceful means, but by legitimate warfare. This was 
the avowed object of the United Brotherhood. 

The opportunities for personal aggrandizement, politi- 
cal power and plunder soon caused men, seeking only 
selfish ends, fco enter the Brotherhood and exert all their 
cunning in perverting the society and its accumulated 
treasure to their own base uses. 

The association grew, it had its "districts" all over 
the land and extended until now it is represented in 
every hamlet and city in the United States, from ocean 
to ocean. Its members were numbered and instead of 
standing before the public in their real names they as- 
sumed other titles. Camp 20 was called the Columbia 
Club, and others were known as different named clubs 
and literary societies. So these organizations flourished 
for years without the general public becoming cognizant 
of their existence. They had their meetings and their 
national conventions. In each district there was a mem- 
ber in charge; he is now called a "District Officer." 
These members or officers constituted the "Executive 
Board." In 1879 there was a meeting or convention, 
and at that time there were fifteen districts, so that at 
that meeting there were fifteen men composing the 
executive board who directed the work and controlled 
the money of the organization, for the purpose of free- 
ing Ireland. 

But in 1881, in Chicago, 111., at a meeting of the 
officers of all districts, in national convention, the ex- 
ecutive board was reduced to five men, and Alexander 
Sullivan, with two others named D. C. Feeley and Mich- 
ael Boland, were selected as of the five, thus constitut- 



THE CEONIN CASE. 23 

ing these three a majority of the board whose right 
was to command, whose power none dared question, 
whose orders none dared disobey; the members of the 
Brotherhood were sworn to obedience to the death, and 
the laws of that organization were held to be above 
the dictates of religion and humanity, far superior to 
the laws of the United States or any government of 
earth or Heaven. 

So soon as Alexander Sullivan, Feeley and Boland 
obtained control of the executive board they began to 
send out circulars and orders for advancement of their 
own ends, and to divert the policy of the society from 
that for which it was instituted. 

The organization was in the hands of this majority 
triumvirate of self-lovers. They adopted what is called 
the dynamite policy, they named it " active work," to 
blow up innocent people, public and private property. 
They inserted in the constitution of the order an addi- 
tion to the oath, which every one becoming a member 
most obey: — "the policy and orders of this executive 
board must not be questioned ; " and the calls for money 
from the camps became more frequent and importunate ; 
the funds were to be used for "active work," not for 
legitimate warfare as originally intended, but for special 
acts against individuals and property in England. Un- 
questioning obedience was insisted upon and enforced 
by the oath taken ; if they directed a man to go to Eng- 
land to kill or destroy, the order must be complied with. 

In 1884 they adopted a figure which they called "The 
Triangle," to designate the controlling powers of the 
board. The members of the organization did not dare 



24 THE CRONIN CASE. 

to inquire, or know, who the executive members of this 
board were, It was the closest corporation that ever 
existed, save that of the Council of Ten, and its work 
was dark and deadly as that of its infamous prototype. 
In 1884, for " active work," the deluded men belong- 
ing to the order for special duty, were sent to Eng- 
land under assumed names; none were supposed to 
know their mission save the masters and the slave; but 
on the arrival of the poor tool on Britain's shore he was 
almost invariably, and promptly, arrested and thrown 
into prison — somebody had been informed in advance of 
his coming and how to arrive at proofs sufficient to con- 
vict him. To-day the prison doors are locked against 
twenty or more men who were sent there by " The Tri- 
angle," and all this was done, all these dupes were ruth- 
lessly sacrificed, that the Triangle of the executive 
board might be free to steal the money contributed by 
thousands of misled Irish people in the United States. 
The Triangle were obliged to make some excuse for ex- 
petiding the money of the order, and they continued to 
plunder the treasury until they were forced to give 
reasons for the depletion of its funds; then they made 
their last report, framed to silence and frighten the 
members of the order; stating that English detectives 
had gained knowledge of their work, that it would be 
unwise to hold the annual convention, that instead of 
such convention the Triangle should alone take action, 
destroying every vestige of all they had done. They 
proceeded to take action, in so far that they destroyed 
their records and accounts and then sent out a circular 
showing that the order was indebted to them in the 



THE CRONIN CASE. 25 

sum of $13,000, not withstanding the fact that when 
they obtained control of the treasury it contained 
$250,000. 

The minority of the executive board were honest, 
even though mistaken men; they could not and would 
not submit to this robbery or endorse the lying, swind- 
ling report of Jhe Triangle ; they protested loudly, dis- 
sentions arose in the Brotherhood, men withdrew from 
it and started a new organization, camp after camp was 
formed by those opposed to the robbers and investiga- 
tion was insisted upon and persisted in. 

Probably the most earnest, untiring and able foe of 
The Triangle was Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin. When 
the disgusted members of the Brotherhood began to 
organize new camps in opposition to the Sullivan tri- 
angle, Dr. Cronin was active in the work and the newly 
formed association increased in numbers and influence. 
But before that was effected, Dr. Cronin in his camp, 
read his circular protesting against the action of The 
Triangle, and for that and nothing else, he was tried, 
Alexander Sullivan prosecuting him, and he was ex- 
pelled for treason. That was in 1885, in Chicago. 
Daniel Brown, of the South Side Camp, made the 
charges. Daniel Coughlin, one of the men indicted 
for Cronin's murder, detective of the city force at the 
time of the assassination, sat on the committee that 
branded Dr. Cronin as a traitor. Le Caron, the noto- 
rious, the confessed spy, was also one of that commit- 
tee. Dr. Cronin' s treason consisted in reading a report 
protesting against the wholesale plundering of the 
treasury by the Triangle. 



26 THE CRONIN CASE. 

The new camps were organized and finally what was 
called a Union Convention was held in Chicago. But 
in the meantime the Triangle had broken and officially 
disappeared. Alexander Sullivan had ostensibly left 
the order, his co-conspirators always following his lead. 
When this Union Convention was called the members 
of the order were almost universally in favor of it. In 
June, 1886, it met and then and there charges were 
made against the ex-executive committee or board, 
against "The Triangle;" charges of robbery, prostitu- 
tion of the purposes of the order and general disregard 
of their duty. These charges were made by Cronin and 
Devoy. A committee of ten was appointed to consider 
what action should be taken ; they reported that a trial 
committee be constituted to try Alexander Sullivan, D. 
C. Feeley and Michael Boland, and such committee was 
appointed, three from one side, three from the other, 
representing both factions. Dr. Cronin was one of 
those committeemen against the Triangle. They met 
in August, 1888, and the trial took place at Buffalo, 
N. Y. Alexander Sullivan and his two coadjutors 
appeared and presented their defense. Then there was 
an effort made to require the Secretary to suppress the 
evidence, to destroy all records of everything said and 
done in the trial; -there also a protest was made by 
Alexander Sullivan against Dr. Cronin being permitted 
to act upon the committee, but such protest was futile, 
the other members of the committee deciding that they 
had no power to oust Dr. Cronin from their midst 
The trial was long, the evidence voluminous, the 
charges were proven, the work of the Triangle, what 



THE CRONIN CASE. 27 

they had done and what they had left undone, was laid 
bare and Dr. Cronin took the evidence, and he kept a 
full, faithful transcript of it. 

The trial committee disbanded and made ready to 
report to the order. Four were in favor of the Triangle. 
One of the men selected by the adverse side was willing 
to shield the Triangle in order to keep the Brotherhood 
united and was willing to side with the others to a cer- 
tain degree. Dr. Cronin insisted upon publishing the 
evidence and letting it go out to all the camps, with the 
report, that members of the order might be informed of 
the acts of their former executive board. That evidence 
would have shown that the Triangle had worked, not 
against the English government as a government, but 
that they had committed individual acts which were 
contrary not only to the law of their order, but in vio- 
lation to the laws of this country and the laws of Eng- 
land, and would show that the Triangle had not only 
robbed the order of its funds, but had robbed men of 
their liberties and their lives. Dr. Cronin was ordered 
to make his report, but also ordered to return his copy 
of the evidence that it might be destroyed. This latter 
he refused to do, but was firm that he would send out 
the evidence with his report. 

Up to the 4th day of May, 1889, the report of Dr. 
Cronin, with the evidence taken on the trial, had not 
been made public, but on the day on which Dr. Cronin 
was assassinated, the executive board was called to- 
gether. 

On the 5th or 6th day of May the report was ordered 
sent out to the camps. The board suppressed the evi- 







JOEL M. LONGENEOKEE, State's Attorney. 



(28) 



THE ORONIN CASE. 29 

dence which accompanied the report of Dr. Cronin, 
but with the report published went Alexander Sullivan's 
protest, charging that Dr. Cronin was a perjurer, a vil- 
lian, a spy; that he had sworn allegiance to Canada, 
and that he was a traitor to the Irish cause. All this 
was charged against the murdered man, over the signa- 
ture of Alexander Sullivan. 

The report was not sent out until after the disappear- 
ance of Dr. Cronin, and it was then made public in the 
belief that his body would never be found until the 
conspirators saw fit to discover it; and to instill into 
the minds of members of the order a belief that Alex- 
ander Sullivan was right in charging the missing man 
with being a spy of the English, a traitor to the cause , 
a report was industriously circulated that he had fled to 
Canada, en route for Europe. They ridiculed the idea 
of his being murdered, brought men and women to 
testify that they had met him after the date of his dis- 
appearance, forged lying newspaper interviews with him 
in Canada and confidently asserted that they had posi- 
tive evidence that he had gone to join Le Caron. 

The object in thus defaming the good name of Cronin 
was to once more reinstate in power " The Triangle," 
and to give to the three the working and money of the 
order, and also to so impeach and ruin his reputation 
that no belief would be given his minority report or 
confidence placed in the copy of evidence held by him, 
should it ever be made public; evidence that would 
convict the Triangle of being embezzlers of funds en- 
trusted to them, of being betrayers of men who had 
obeyed their orders, of being violators of national laws, 



80 THE OBONIN OASE, 

traitors to the cause they were elected to lead, thieves 
and assassins. 

All this plan for the destruction of this one man, 
dangerous and hateful to them, was well studied and 
long premeditated. Months before these men and their 
tools had begun to educate the rank and file of the 
order, Coughlin, then detective, went along the street 
and in meeting places proclaimed that Cronin was a 
traitor even as Le Caron was a spy. Men would 
whisper and shrug shoulders and say that " Cronin 
would soon turn up in England well supplied with 
British gold." In Camp 20, on the night of February 
8th, even so far back, they denounced Cronin as " an- 
other Le Caron " and a spy, and thus paved the way, 
excited indignation, hatred against him ; to render it 
easy to find those who, when ordered, would " remove V 
him. 

Daniel Coughlin, Patrick Cooney, Martin Burke and 
Patrick O' Sullivan all belonged to Camp 20, of which 
John F. Beggs was Senior Guardian. February 8th, 
with Beggs presiding at a meeting of the camp, all 
being excited over the testimony of Le Caron, who had 
for two days been upon the witness stand in London , 
some members interrupted the discussions about that 
spy by stating that it would be better for the Camp to 
occupy its time By investigating the Triangle, that the 
ex-executive board had robbed the order of its funds 
and should be made to answer for it Daniel Coughlin 
and several others sprang to their feet and demanded 
the man's authority for such charge. He stated that 
he had heard read in a camp part of the report in which 



THE CRONIN CASE. 81 

it was plainly stated and proven that such misappro- 
priation of the money by the order had been made by 
the parties accused. Coughlin moved that a secret 
committee be appointed to further investigate the mat- 
ter. The Senior Guardian appointed such committee 
of three, to look into the charges made in the other 
camp, Dr. Cronin's camp. February 16th, the Senior 
Guardian wrote to the Senior District Officer, Mr. 
Spelman, of Peoria, telling him to investigate^ that 
officer replied on February 17th, that he could take no 
action unless the charges were made directly to him. 
February 18th, Mr. Beggs again wrote Mr. Spelman 
that the investigation must take place, or that " there 
would be trouble." 

They were beginning to realize their position, that 
they were beset by honest men who would not be si- 
lenced; time and reflection convinced them that there 
would indeed "be trouble." They were in desperate 
straits and only most desperate means could save them 
from ruin and ignominy. 

There was one way they thought, to hush the clamor 
forever. 

The plot was formed. 

"DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES.' 



CHAPTER II. 

Who P. H. Cronin Was— A Biographical Sketch of the Man— A 
Brave, True Frieud — He Hated Dishonesty and Fought Fraud 
— Early Struggles — Devotion to Ireland and Duty — Why He 
Was Murdered — Words of Praise. 

A name that has become historic since May 4 of this 
year 1889; that has passed into the history of two 
countries, is that of Patrick Henry Cronin. His un- 
timely murder by a triumvirate of thieves, traitors and 
assassins robbed the cause of human liberty of a tire- 
less advocate, the cause of right aad truth of a daring, 
intrepid leader, Ireland of a true patriot, and America of 
a loyal, useful citizen. 

On Easter Sunday, in the year 1846, Patrick Henry 
Cronin was born to parents whose ancestry numbered 
some of the most noted men of Irish history. On the 
mother's side Edmund Burke, the great law-giver and 
philosopher, was a blood connection, and the father 
traced his lineage back to some of the rulers of the 
ninth and tenth centuries. In the little village of 
Bullevant, County Cork, Ireland, young Cronin first saw 
the light of day, and two years later his home was in 
New York City. His father and eldest brother had 
preceded the mother and her babe across the Atlantic, 
and a home in great Gotham was ready to greet the 
young immigrant and his mother. 

For seven years the Cronin family lived in New York 
City, during which time the father became a citizen of 
the United States. In 1855 business inducements were 



THE OEONIN CASE. 33 

held out to the elder Cronin in Canada, and the family- 
removed to St. Catharines, Upper Canada. Here Pat- 
rick Henry passed the next eleven years of his life, 
attended school and attained the greater part of an 
excellent education that stood him such good stead in 
after years. Says the Doctor in some of his posthu- 
mous writings: "I have studied various branches of 
medicine since I was very young. In the Christian 
Brotherhood School, before I attended college or uni- 
versity, I was one of a special class in chemistry," 

Cronin, the junior, came again to the United States 
in 1865. " This rudimentary medical education led me 
into the drug business," writes the Doctor; " which I 
began to learn of Dr. Christy, of Venango County, Penn- 
sylvania, when but a boy and teaching school. Master- 
ing the drug business, I took the few remaining 
branches that form medicine and surgery, and found 
myself prepared for my profession. 

" Nearly twenty years ago," continues the Doctor, al- 
ready penning his autobiography in his 42d year, as 
though some intimation of his coming fate ran through 
his thoughts, "I reached St. Louis, bearing letters of 
commendation to Vicar-General, now Archbishop Kyan, 
through him receiving social and business recognition. 
In 1874, having accumulated enough to warrant my 
going into my favorite business, I associated myself 
with William Bagnall, now one of the millionaires of 
Missouri, in the wholesale and retail drug business. 
Prosecuting my studies, I soon graduated from the 
medical department of the University of Missouri, and 
took the degrees of master of arts and bachelor of phil- 



34 THE CRONIN CASE. 

osophy in St. Louis University, the oldest institution 
of the Jesuits west of the Alleghenies." 

In St. Louis Dr. Cronin first met the Conklins. An 
acquaintance ripened into a friendship, and the Doctor 
early in his career in St. Louis found it convenient and 
agreeable to take up his residence with the Conklins, 
who have since then, up till the time of his death, been 
his closest and warmest friends. Always a man of 
public spirit and unselfish endeavor, in 1878 the Gov- 
ernor of Missouri recognized in Dr. Cronin a man of 
affairs, and selected him to represent the state as a 
commissioner to the Paris Exposition. " During my 
trip abroad on this errand," writes the Doctor, " I took 
advantage of the opportunity to visit the leading hos- 
pitals of Europe and study their methods and treat- 
ment." 

Shortly after his return to St. Louis, Dr. Cronin 
received the appointment of Professor of Materia 
Medica and Pharmacy, and was selected as one of the 
three members of the St. Louis Medical Society to 
drawupthe "Medical Practice Act." In 1879he was one 
of the five physicians to form the St. Louis Free Dis- 
pensary, and the following year he was appointed 
lecturer on physiology at Lindenwood Seminary for 
Young Ladies. 

Learning through the medical journals that there 
was an opening for a professorship in the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago, Dr. Cronin cor- 
responded with the secretary of that institution, Dr. D. 
A. H. Steele, with a view of securing the appointment. 
"Dr. Steele answered my letter courteously, giving me 



THE ORONIN CASE. 35 

the desired information," says Dr. Cronin, u but wish- 
ing to look over the ground in person, I came to Chi- 
cago in the spring of 1882, and in the fall of that year 
settled here permanently. Then hearing of a possible 
opening for me as one of the Cook County Hospital 
staff, I made no effort to secure the college professor- 
ship." In the fall of 1883 Dr. Cronin received the 
appointment of staff physician at the Cook County 
Hospital. 

Dr. Cronin was a man of fine attainments, a good 
musician and an excellent singer. Early in his resi- 
dence in St. Louis he joined the choir at St. John's 
Catholic Church. Later on he became renowned as the 
tenor singer of the Rev. Boyd's Baptist Church, which 
position he held for nearly twelve years. 

In Chicago his first musical work was at Bishop 
Cheney's church. He became known here among 
church people as a man of culture and of irreproach- 
able habits. He was genial, talented, and soon became 
a great favorite in society. Upon his arrival in Chicago 
Dr. Cronin brought letters of introduction from promi- 
nent citizens of St. Louis to Marshall Field and other 
well-known Chicagoans. These, however, were never 
presented, the Doctor preferring to make his own way 
and trusting to his own merit to win success. 

While in St. Louis the young man seemed to taiie 
no interest in political affairs, but on removal to Chi- 
cago in 1882, he plunged into politics and also became 
a most enthusiastic worker in the Irish National cause. 
He sided with the Republican party. As a devoted 
son of the Catholic Church, strict in all its observances, 



36 THE CRONIN CASE. . 

he was noted. Quick and earnest in impulse, gener- 
ous, brave and honest, he despised duplicity and dis- 
honesty. Once convinced that he was right, nothing 
could daunt him, and when he discovered that a few 
cold-hearted, scheming, traitorous robbers were plun- 
dering the treasury of the Irish National Order, pros- 
tituting their power and deliberately sacrificing the 
liberty and lives of their blinded, over-zealous adher- 
ents, his indignation was aroused; he set himself the 
task of discovering the villainy; of proving it; of 
bringing punishment upon the guilty ; of freeing the 
order and the cause from the incubus of these merce- 
nary, murderous chiefs. He fought them fairly and 
openly, with tongue and pen. He established a news- 
paper, the Celio-Avtyerican, and in hot words of edito- 
rial he told of their ill-doing, gave chapter and verse 
for his arraignment of them before the members of the 
order. Enemies he made of course; powerful, bitter, 
unrelenting and desperate enemies, who feared and 
hated him, who dreaded the exposure he vowed to make 
of their vile plots and proceedings; who denounced 
him openly, made false charges against his moral char- 
acter and against his loyalty to the cause of Ireland; 
sought every means to ruin him socially and profes- 
sionally, expelled him from the order he so faithfully 
served, as a traitor, and at last, to still the brain so 
active in warfare against them, to quiet the tongue 
they could not silence otherwise ; to destroy, as 
they thought, the power and knowledge that would 
work their utter destruction — they brutally murdered 
him. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 37 

To well illustrate the high estimation his character 
commanded from the one who kuew him best, knew his 
soul secrets, the words pronounced over his mangled 
remains, by one who had been his spiritual adviser, 
can most properly here be introduced. 

At the Cathedral of the Holy Name, Father 
Muldoon preached the funeral sermon of Patrick 
Henry Cronin. His eloquent, tender words were as 
follows: 

"Man knoweth not his own end; as the fishes are 
taken with a hook, and as the birds are caught with the 
snare, so men will be taken in the evil time, and it 
shall come upon them suddenly. — Eccles. ix., 12. 

"In the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost, amen. 

" These words I have just recited to you from the in- 
spired writer, my beloved friends, tell us by example 
and analogy that death comes upon us suddenly — that 
it shall come, as we are told elsewhere 'as a thief in 
the night.' 

" The lesson taught us to-day by this text is that we 
should be prepared to meet this death whenever and 
wherever it shall come; and passing from the text of 
to-day to him whose memory we serve, it teaches us the 
lesson that death often comes as sudden as a thief in the 
night. It comes to snatch us away from all social rela- 
tions, to take us away from home, to take us away from 
friends, family, and all that is dear to us ; to take us 
from earth to heaven, to take us from time to eternity. 
Death points this out to us, and his death should teach 
us a strong and emphatic lesson. If he (pointing to 



38 THE CRONIN CASE. 

the bier) were here to-day to talk to you he would not 
ask for an eulogy on his life, but he would ask you to 
take a lesson home to yourselves from his life to make 
you purer, richer, and better. He would say: 'By my 
life so guide your own. If there is anything in my 
death to teach you to value life, to teach you to value 
Christ, and Almighty God, and the Holy Church, and 
the sacraments — oh! take it home to your own hearts, 
and make it part of yourselves. If I have suffered, let 
my suffering be a lesson to you; let it come home to 
your hearts and make you better and holier.' His life 
and his death, dear friends, teach us to make ourselves 
better, teach us to make ourselves holier, and to pre- 
pare ourselves for our last moment. 

" What a change is here from a couple of weeks ago! 
To-day friends dear and near to him bore all that is 
mortal of him up this aisle to receive the last rites of 
the church; and only two weeks ago that same person 
walked this floor and came up these aisles in all the 
vigor of his manhood. He came here with all the 
charity of his faith and nature to worship at the same 
altar before which and on which to-day his obsequies 
are said. Oh ! this is a strong lesson to us. Who would 
think when he led that body of men here to the sacra- 
ment of the altar to make himself purer and better — 
who would think that in the short term of two weeks 
that health and vigor and manhood would be snatched 
ruthlessly from him? But such was the fact; and this 
death, so sudden and awful, may be ours — if not in the 
same manner, in other manners, equally sudden, if not 
as atrocious. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 39 

" Therefore the lesson is brought home to us to be 
always prepared lest God should strike us, for His angel 
is always coming from Him to touch the young and the 
old, the deformed and the beautiful, and his touch 
is enough to call them from this earth to the land 
above. 

" And now, my dear friends, have we reason to be sorry 
to-day ? Have we reason to mourn that our friend has 
gone from us ? No, my friends ; there is no reason for 
mourning the death of a person who has lived a religi- 
ous life. As the epistle tells us, the religious man, and 
one pleasing to God the Father, is he who visits the 
orphans and widows in their tribulation, and he is one, 
too, who preserves himself undefiled from the world. I 
shall not pronounce his eulogy, but examine his life in 
the light of this text, and see whether or not he was 
religious, and if his life were a religious life, and if it 
were, we must inevitably come to the conclusion that he 
was pleasing to Almighty God, and now enjoys the 
repose promised by Almighty God to those who serve 
Him while on earth. Religion pure and undefiled is to 
visit the widow and orphan. Did he do that? What 
was his avocation and mission in life? It was the 
grandest and noblest after the avocation of priest. It 
was to deal out charity — a charity of word and charity 
of example, to minister to the unfortunate, to heal the 
ailments of human life. This was his mission and this 
his vocation. Did he fulfill his vocation; I ask you 
here in the presence of his mortal remains, did he carry 
out his vocation ? Most assuredly, my friends, he did 
$o. And why did he do so ? The very manner in which 



40 THE CRONIN CASE. 

he met his death will tell you in more emphatic terms 
than I can possibly utter. A call comes that a fellow 
being is in suffering. Other things are crowded upon 
him — other business demands were calling for him. 
But he hearkened to the call of humanity. He was told 
that a fellow-man was sick and instantly, without hesi- 
tation, with his heart full of charity, and in his hands 
the very instruments to bring relief and mercy to a 
fellow-being, he goes forth with mercy, charity, and 
good will to his fellow man and — meets what? An 
atrocious death! In the fulfillment of his mission, in 
the very carrying out of his avocation, he met his own 
death! Must we not say, then, that meeting his death, 
thus fulfilling his mission and performing his duty, 
whatever may have been against him, if there was sin 
upon his soul of any kind whatever, he shall be 
remembered before the throne of Almighty God ? Yes, 
he did visit the widows and orphans and as the anec- 
dotes and sayings about him pass away, coming to us 
as straggling rivulets to swell the stream of his worth, 
and to show that him whom we mourn had a noble 
Christian heart, and that is what we can not say of 
many to-day. He had a good heart, a Christian heart, 
a Catholic heart, and that heart was full of love and 
charity towards his fellow-man. Was he ever a man 
opposite or opposed to the good of his fellow-man ? 
Was he not ever anxious to improve the lot and well 
being of his fellow-men? Look at the associations to 
which he belonged. Every one of those associations 
has its being and life in those things which are for the 
betterment of man. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 41 

" I have often heard him urge those who are.poor and 
of little means to join those associations in order to 
make themselves thrifty and better, and to build up for 
themselves a home here, and provide for their children 
a means to live decently afterward. Was not this 
patriotic? Was not this the best thing a human being 
can do on earth, to strive with all his power to better 
his fellow-man, to make his home more agreeable, and 
leave an inheritance for posterity? Most assuredly it 
was; and most assuredly we must conclude that bis life 
was righteous, good, and holy. And did he preserve 
himself unspotted from the world ? He lived a public 
life, a life with the people and among the people. He 
was in every sense of the word a public man, known of 
thousands, as the thousands here to-day testify; and if 
there was anything wrong or sinful in his life, long ere 
this it would have been brought forward in triumph. 
But now no single finger of scorn or imputation can be 
pointed toward him. After his life has been laid before 
you, we know that he had a good, Christian, Catholic 
heart, and that his heart went out to his fellow-men, 
and that in all his dealings with his fellow-men he 
was never in any sense greatly sinful — that he was not 
small or mean toward or in his dealings with his fellow- 
men. 

"What better eulogy can we pronounce upon him than 
this? None. We have forgotten half our duty to-day 
if in our presence here whilst the priest has offered up 
for him the holy sacrament of the Mass, we have not 
let our own hearts go out in charity, holiness, and love 
toward him that is gone. 



42 THE CRONIN CASE. 

"There never was a time in the associations or organi- 
zations to which he belonged, or anywhere else that he 
denied his faith, that lie ever was ashamed to acknowl- 
edge that he was a Catholic and held to the tenets and 
belief of the church. He could say: 'After my title of 
Catholic, my title of patriot is prominent, and I am 
not ashamed to confess it to the world. I am willing 
to sacrifice anything in order to defend my term of 
Catholicity, and I am willing to do all in my power to 
help along the poor men of our country.' 

"Therefore, my friends, pray for him who is gone. 
Let your prayers be that his soul may find rest. Re- 
member him in your daily prayers. Remember him in 
the places you used to meet him. Remember him when 
on your knees before the throne of God. He was 
snatched from the earth without the sacraments of the 
church; he had not even the soothing words of the 
priest to bring him more quietly to his end, to help 
him on the perilous journey toward another life, but 
as I said, he met his death in the performance of his 
duty, and that supplied in part the place of the sacra- 
ment. 

" Pray for him. Breathe his name with love; and as 
his body moulders in the earth, he may say to you: 
' Have pity upon me, you, my friends. Have pity on 
me, for I am now helpless and defenseless. I have no 
power in my own hands, but your hands are full of 
alms, deeds, and of blessings and prayers, and let them 
ascend before the throne of Almighty Cod that I may 
have rest and peace. Treat all with 'kindness as my 
life has been cme of kindness — ^treat them with charity. 



THE CKONIN CASE. 43 

as my life has been one of charity. If any one say 
aught against me let it pass forgiven. The words of 
man are nothing and pass away as the wind from the 
mouth. Receive them, then, and mind them not, and 
those who have injured me most, in the name of mercy 
have pity on them.' 

" Receive, then, O, God, his soul. Be merciful to 
him for his faith, and his hope, and his love." 

Father Muldoon sounded the key-note when he said: 
u He (Cronin) hearkened to the call of humanity. 
He was told that a fellow-man was sick, and instantly 
with his heart full of charity, and in his hands the very 
instruments to bring relief to a fellow-being, he goes 
forth with mercy, charity, good-will, to his fellow-man, 
and — meets what? An atrocious death! " Most of the 
Protestant ministers also, took occasion in their pulpits 
to express their horror of this, the foulest murder in 
the annals of such bloody crimes. One of these min- 
isters — the Rev. Frank Bristol of the Trinity M. E. 
Church — gave utterance to the following in a recent 
sermon which is an indication of the sentiments of the 
others : 

" Ireland wants- no liberties bought by crimes, and 
would endure a thousand wrongs rather than bear the 
stain of one crime — so deep and so damnable — com- 
mitted by her murderous 'patriots' who have violated 
truth from mercenary motives and then commit crimes 
to conceal their guilt. It would be fortunate if this 
conspiracy ends with the taking off of only one Irish 
patriot, but if the murderers go unpunished fifty more 
may share the same fate. 



14 THE CRONIN CASE. 

"Dr. Cronin was opposed to dynamite and violence 
and lie dared to voice his abhorrence to these measures. 
He dared expose corruption in society circles; he dared 
oppose mercenaries who were leading his countrymen 
to destruction; he dared demand a change — a reckon- 
ing — and for daring he paid the penalty ! He was not 
a fanatic; he was not a man hurried on by violent 
prejudices, nor by the heated words of narrow-minded 
leaders. He was a man of thought and deliberation. 
He was a patriot and a statesman." 



CHAPTEE III. 

" Where Is Cronin? " — How He Left Home— A Mysterious Trunk — 
" Was He Murdered? " — Kumors, Insinuations, and Theories — 
Woodruff's Story — Long's Dispatches From Canada — A Clue 
at Last — "J. B. Simmons" — Carlson's Cottage — "Frank Wil- 
liams "—Inside the Cottage— Evidences of a Tragedy — De- 
tective Coughlin a Prisoner. 

The Chicago papers of Monday, May 6, contained 
headlines to not very extended notices, asking " Was 
Dr. Cronin Murdered? — Mysterious Departure with 
a Stranger on Saturday Night — A Bloody Trunk" and 
then they went on to tell that " Dr. P. H. Cronin, the 
well-known leader in Irish affairs, has been missing 
from his home, No. 470 North Clark street, since Sat- 
urday night at 7:30 o'clock. At that hour he was 
called away hastily by a stranger who said a man had 
been injured by a wagon in the north end of Lake 
View. The man handed the Doctor a card bearing the 
name of P. O' Sullivan, ice dealer, who, about three 
weeks ago, had engaged the Doctor as his regular physi- 
cian. He came in a buggy and drove a white horse. 

"Dr. Cronin quickly gathered up his surgical in- 
struments, a bundle of cotton bandages and such other 
appliances as might be required, jumped into the buggy 
brought by the stranger and was driven away toward 
the north. 

" Since then he has not been seen and his friends 
are positive that he has been murdered. 

" To add strength to this theory, a large trunk was 
found in Lake View yesterday near the corner of Evan- 

(«) 



46 



THE ORONIN CASE. 



ston avenue and Sultzer street, which was found to 
contain a lot of cotton, such as Dr. Cronin took with 
him, dry leaves, green blades of grass, a bunch of black 
hair smeared with blood, as though a man's body had 
been enclosed in the trunk. 

"The bunch of hair was identified by the Doctor's 
intimate friends as being exactly like, his, and they are 



SULLIVAN ICE COMPANY, 

Private Families and Others supplied with the best Table. 




ICEHOUSES AT SILVER LAKE, WIS, 



THE FATAL CARD. 

positive the Doctor's body, after being mutilated, was 
placed in the trunk." 

May 7th there came more extended reports, but they 
were even more contradictory, and the statements that 
Dr. Cronin was not dead, that he "would turn up all 
right," that he disappeared voluntarily for a time in 



THE CRONIN CASE. 47 

order to advertise himself and his business, and that he 
had been seen on a street-car on Sunday. All these 
rumors were circulated through the press on the Tues- 
day following his disappearance. The hair was declared 
to be that of a woman, the detectives sagely concluded 
that there was no connection between the trunk and* 
Dr. Cronin' s body; even if he had been killed, they 
said it was only placed there to mislead. 

Mr. and Mrs. Conklin, with whom Dr. Cronin lived, 
insisted from the first that he had been murdered, and 
by political enemies. They denied that he had ever dis- 
appeared before or would take such a step for sensational 
purposes, and they said that for six years past he had 
not been out of their reach for twenty -four hours at any 
time. He lived with them in St. Louis and with them 
removed to Chicago. 

They based their belief in his death on conversations 
with the Doctor in which he declared that his life was 
in danger from enemies made in the Irish societies. 

u Dr. Cronin has been at war with some of these 
men ever since he came to Chicago," said Mr. Conklin. 
— "They have tried to impeach his honor as a man 
and injure his standing as a physician. He held im- 
portant information and papers and by means of these 
he proposed to vindicate himself and implicate others 
in frauds that have caused scandal among the Irish 
leaders. He intended to use his knowledge and his 
papers at the coming convention of the Land League in 
Philadelphia." 

For days the mystery of Dr. Cronin's disappearance 
was the topic of conversation, the subject of newspaper 



48 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



comment, a source of ridicule for his enemies and 
mortification to his friends, though the latter were ever 
loyal in their belief in his integrity and that he had 
been foully dealt with ; while those who hated him in- 
sisted that he had gone to join Le Caron, the spy and 
informer, and would soon "turn up in Europe with his 







JtHfiaa £*g.c° 



THE COFFIN-TRUNK. 

pockets well filled with British gold." The press was 
artfully and carefully manipulated, and aided in spread- 
ing reports detrimental to the honor and social and 
professional standing of the missing man, and though 
the police still kept up a seemingly active search for 



THE CRONIN CASE. 49 

him or his body, there was little belief in the state- 
ments of his friends that he had been murdered. On 
May 10, it was positively stated by Miss Annie Mur- 
phy, daughter of a member of Camp No. 20, that she 
had seen Dr. Oronin in a street-car after 9 o'clock on 
the night of May 4. To clinch her evidence came 
William Dwyer, who acted as conductor of car 415 on 
State street on that night, who insisted that he also 
saw the Doctor on his car about the same hour and 
date, and Dwyer described the physician and the pro- 
fessional-looking packages he carried. 




THE HEARSE-WAGON. 

On May 11, a man named Frank Woodruff, who gave 
the alias of Black, was arrested on suspicion of trying 
to sell a stolen horse. He told a story of the bloody 
trunk and his connection with it, in which known fact 
and evident falsehood was so blended that the police and 
the public were puzzled. He stated that he had been 
hired to secure a horse and wagon to carry the trunk 
away from its resting place. That he had taken the horse 
and vehicle from Dean & Co.'s stable where he was work- 
ing, late at night, had driven to a barn and there had re- 
ceived a trunk containing the body of a woman. Three 



50 THE CBONIN CASE. 

men put the trunk in the wagon and one of these, 
whom the others called "Doc." Woodruff described as 
being Dr. Cronin. It was while trying to sell this 
horse and wagon that Woodruff was arrested. 

Another phase in the wide-spread plot was developed 
in certain dispatches to the Chicago papers, and those 
of other cities, from Canada, stating that Dr. Cronin 
was in Toronto, had been seen and interviewed by a 
reporter named Long, who formerly lived in Chicago 
and who knew Dr. Cronin well. A certain notorious 
ex-lawyer, formerly of Chicago, now a fugitive from 
justice and one of the infamous Canada- American crim- 
inal colony, William J. Starkey, substantiated Long's 
statements and alleged that he too had seen and con- 
versed with the Doctor. According to the dispatches 
sent and printed Dr. Cronin arrived in Toronto on May 
11, and May 12 the newspapers of this country informed 
the public that the missing man was alive, in Toronto 
and had been at Starkey' s house. The news was re- 
peated on May 13, Long asserting that he had enter- 
tained the Doctor, who told him that he (Cronin) was 
going to France. 

This is the substance of the plausible, well-concocted 
and seemingly truthful telegrams that brought sorrow 
and confusion to those who had before trusted and re- 
spected Dr. Cronin, gave his enemies an opportunity 
for "I told you so's" and, at first entirely deceived the 
editors of the papers publishing the bogus news. 

But in a day or two, suspicious of anything coming 
from Starkey, and the antecedents of Long becoming 
known, they not being calculated to invite confidence 



THE CRONIN CASE. 51 

in his statements, the reports began to be discredited. 
None the less was it, and is it now, evident that these 
reports were part of the pre-arranged plot. 

A CLUE TO SOMETHING AT LAST. 

A few days after the arrest of Woodruff the fact was 
discovered that some mysterious man or men had 
occupied rooms in the fourth story of the building, No. 
117 Clark street, from February 19th or thereabouts, 
until the 20th of March. Mr. E. G. Throckmorton is 
the cashier for Knight & Marshall, real estate agents. 
On the 19th of February he rented the top floor of No. 
117 Clark street to a man who gave his name as J. B. 
Simmons for $42 a month. This man paid him a month's 
rent in advance and took a lease of the premises and a 
receipt for the month's rent. On the 19th of March 
the collector for Knight & Marshall called for the next 
month's rent but no one was in the rooms. The collec- 
tor looked through the letter hole in the door and saw 
some furniture in rooms 12 and 15. He called again 
on the 20th with a like result. On the 21st he made 
the third call and saw the furniture was gone. Mr. 
Throckmorton described the man as being about 25 years 
old, 5 feet 7^ inches or 8 inches tall; would probably 
weigh 165 or 170 pounds. He had dark hair and eyes, 
also a mustache rather long and drooping. He wore a 
light Derby hat, and a short napped chinchilla over- 
coat. He had quite a roll of money when he paid the 
rent. He said he was renting the rooms for a sick man 
who was coming to the city to be treated for some ail- 
ment. "I thought," said Marshall, "it was strange 



52 THE ORONIN CASE. 

when he only wanted two rooms that'he should be will- 
ing to take the entire floor, but I imagined that per- 
haps the sick man for whom he rented them wanted to 
sub-let them to decrease his expenses. I didn't con- 
sider him a very desirable tenant, but it was near the 
end of the renting year and I thought we could stand 
him until May 1st. These rooms would give him almost 
perfect seclusion, as the fourth floor is at the top of 
the house, with a solid brick wall on either side. Dr. 
Cronin's office in the Chicago Opera House is just 
across the w T ay, and I remember the book-keeper telling 
me that the man wanted just that particular location. 

Jonas Carlson, a Swede, owns a small story-and-a- 
half frame cottage, No. 1872 North Ashland avenue. 
This house he rented on March 20, to a man who gave 
the name of Frank Williams. He told the owner that 
his sister was coming to keep house for himself and 
brothers, but that several weeks might elapse before 
she arrived. He paid $12 in advance and received a 
receipt for the rent up to the 20th of April. 

A short distance from the cottage is the house of 
Patrick O'Sullivan. Jonas Carlson says that when the 
men went out of the yard CT Sullivan was standing in 
his back yard. Williams went over to him but he 
could not hear any conversation between them. When 
asked if he (Carlson) spoke to O'Sullivan about this 
man, he replied: "Yes. It was a week before the 
second month's rent was due that I went to O'Sullivan 
and asked him if he knew the man." He said, "Yes; 
I know one of the men: He is all right. Is the rent 
due?" I said, "No, not until the 20th of April.'" 



THE CEONIN CASE. 



53 



Carlson was not at home at that time and the man paid 
the rent, $12, to his wife, and their son gave a receipt 
for it. Three or four days after the first month's rent 
was paid a few pieces of furniture were moved into the 
cottage. When the second month was paid, Mrs. Carl- 
son asked the man why they did not move in. He re- 
plied that his sister was sick at the hospital. Mr. 




CARLSON'S COTTAGE AND O'SULLIVAN'S HOME. 

Carlson was asked: "Did you see this man any other 
time?" "Yes, I saw him one Saturday night." " Do 
you know the date?" " No; it was the same Saturday 
night that Dr. Cronin was lost. Then he only looked 
out of the front door, and said he had got to fix up." 
" What time of the night was that?" "It was be- 
tween 5 and 6 o'clock — something like that." "Was 



54 THE CEONIN CASE. 

that all he said?" u Tes, that was all he said, and 
then he went in." "Did you hear him fix up that 
night?" "No; then I went out to the gate and heard 
two men talking in the house, but what they said I 
could not tell." 

Mr. Carlson did not see them afterward. They sent 
a letter from Hammond, Ind., asking him to place the 
furniture in the cellar for a few days, and saying they 
would pay him for his trouble. The letter was signed 
F. W. 

After waiting a few days longer, the house was en- 
tered through the windows, the keys not having been 
returned. A paint pot and brush were found and paint 
had been rubbed over the floor. There were marks on 
the steps and in the hall as if made by bare feet. 

Charles J. Carlson, the son of Jonas Carlson, made 
out the receipts for the rent to Frank Williams. On 
the 20th of April he asked if he could get out a trunk 
and lounge owned by a former occupant. Being told 
he could do so he went in with Williams. The front 
room and bed-room were furnished, and the carpet was 
tacked on the floor. He saw the furniture when it was 
brought. This witness was one who entered the house 
through the window. He saw that the recent occu- 
pants had not tried to paint the floor. The paint was 
smeared on in spots. He noticed the footsteps in the 
hall and bedroom. Dark spots on the floor, the 
south wall, the dresser and the key plate of the dresser, 
were examined, and believed to be blood-stains. 

Lieut. Herman Schuettler visited the Carlson cottage 
May 23d. He found blood spots on the floor, on the 



THE CBONIN CASE, 55 

wall near the dressing-case, on the stairway, the fence, 
and the gangway over the ditch. He enumerated the 
articles of furniture in the house and their condition. 
An arm of the rocker was broken off, and the lounge 
had been iojured. The bed had not been occupied. 
Returning to the cottage the following day with Capt. 
Wing, he took a bar of soap, on which was a hair, and 
a piece of cotton batting found in the basement with 
some yellow paint and blood on it. Officer Lorch 
found the key of a trunk under a bureau in the cottage 
which exactly fitted the blood-stained trunk. 

An examination of the furniture revealed the letters 
A. H. E. & Co. A member of the firm of A. H. Eevell 
& Co. went out to Lake Yiew and readily identified the 
articles. The books were consulted and very soon the 
police were in possession of information showing when 
the goods were sold, the name of the purchaser, and 
when and where they were delivered. Mr. W. P. Hat- 
field was the salesman. He said: "I sold the bill of 
goods, a part of which have been found in the Carlson 
house in Lake View. I see by my sales book that it 
was on February 19, and to the best of my recollection 
it was in the morning. I remember the buyer's ap- 
pearance. He was a young man, 30 or 35 years of age, 
a well preserved fellow about my height, say 5 feet, 6^ 
inches, full faced and well built, weighing about 150 
pounds. He had what I think was an English accent, 
had nice manners, an engaging way and the address of 
a business man. By the way he had a moustache, dark 
brown, with a reddish tinge. He was well dressed in a 
dark cutaway suit, overcoat, and dark Derby hat. His 



56 THE CBONIN CASE. 

speech was clear and distinct, without any perceptible 
accent. He selected a cheap bedroom set and a cheap 
carpet. Then he wanted a trunk, the cheapest we had, 
but a big one, the largest procurable. He bought a 
large square deal trunk, one of those known to the 
trade as packing cases. He never asked the price of 
the goods and paid the bill without question. " 

The goods were sent by the man's order to No. 117 
Clark street, rooms 12 and 15, fourth floor. When he 
receipted for their delivery he signed his name in letters 
two inches long " J. B. Simmons." 

The following day he appeared again at the store 
and wanted a trunk strap. An ordinary strap was of- 
fered him but would not suit. He wanted " a big strap, 
the largest and strongest you can possibly get ; I don't 
mind the cost, get it for me if you have to make it." 

A satisfactory strap being obtained from the manu- 
facturers, the man paid for it and departed. 

The police were now active in their efforts to dis- 
cover when the buggy and white horse that took away 
Dr. Cronin on the night of May 4, were hired, and by 
whom. Their work resulted in connecting the name of 
Detective Daniel Coughlin, of the East Chicago Ave- 
nue Station, with the case. May 4 Coughlin went to 
Liveryman Pat Dinan, of North Clark street, and told 
him to keep a horse and buggy in readiness for one of 
his friends that evening. The horse and buggy were 
given to Coughlin's friend about 7:10 p. m. The horse 
was white and the buggy a top vehicle, such as the one 
in which Dr. Cronin was driven away the night of his 
disappearance. 



THE CRONIN CASE. v 57 

The morning of May 4 Coughlin called on Livery- 
man Dinan. 

" I'll want you to keep a rig in readiness for a friend 
of mine to-night," he said. "I don't want yon to say 
a word about it." 

Coughlin added that the man would call for the rig 
that night, and told Dinan to give it to him ; that he 
(Coughlin) would be responsible for it. 

At about 7 P. m. a man called at the stable, and, say- 
ing he had come to get the rig hired that morning for 
him by Coughlin, was given the horse and buggy, and 
drove north. When the horse and buggy were brought 
out and the man saw that a white horse had been given 
him he protested. He objected because there werp no 
curtains at the sides of the buggy. However, he took 
the rig and drove away with it. 

u Coughlin came to me that morning," said Mr. 
Dinan, " and said that a friend of his would want a rig 
that night and to keep still about it. As he was in the 
habit of hiring cabs and rigs to do detective work, I 
didn't think much of his injunction to keep still. In 
fact, I didn't pay much attention to it. About 7 P. M. 
a man came up and said he wanted the rig hired by 
Coughlin. He got it and drove away north." 

" And when did he return?" 

"About 9:30 p. M. He drove the horse into the 
stable, turned him over to the hostler, and went out 
without saying a word." 

" And have you seen him since?" 

"No." 

" Who, then, paid for the rig?" 



58 THE CRONIN CASE. 

" Nobody. It hasn't been paid for yet. I have 
charged it to Coughlin." 

" Why didn't you report the matter to the police?" 

'• I did. Capt. Schaack knew of this thing the 
Monday following Dr. Cronin's disappearance. He said 
he'd look into the case. I also saw Coughlin at the 
station and he told me not to say a word about this 
thing, as he was known to have been an enemy of Dr. 
Cronin, and it might create some unpleasantness." 

"Did Capt. Schaack investigate." 

" I don't know. One evening he came up here, got 
the gray out, and said he was going to show him to 
Mrs. Oonklin for identification. I understand she failed 
to identify the animal." 

" How did the fellow look who called for the rig that 
night?" 

" He was possibly 35 years old, dark complexion, had 
a black moustache, and a four-weeks growth of beard. 
He struck me as being a workingman. He had on a 
light-colored soft hat." 

Captain Schaack was questioned relative to the matter. 

" It's nothing," he said. " In the first place, I hitched 
up that identical white horse this strange man drove, 
and at about the time Dr. Cronin was taken away I 
drove up to the Conklin's. I called Mrs. Conklin out, 
but she failed to identify the horse." 

" Did you ever ask Coughlin for an explanation of 
this thing?" 

"I did. Coughlin said that his friend was from 
Houghton, Mich., where his brother lives, and that his 
name was Thomas Smith. The man, Coughlin said, had 



THE CRONIN CASE. 59 

come down to Chicago to have a time. He wanted to 
hire a horse and buggy, and Coughlin said he could fix 
it for him." 

"Did you do anything about Dinan's story? " 

" I hustled Coughlin and Whalen out on it. They 
found the fellow on Clark street and he gave a satis- 
factory account of himself." 

" Then they let him go?" 

" Yes; the man was all right." 

Capt. Sehaack seemed to attach no importance to the 
statement of Dinan, nor was he inclined to connect the 
white horse and buggy hired by Coughlin' s friend with 
that which took Dr. Cronin away. 

But others were disposed to consider Coughlin and 
the white horse and the top-buggy, all in connection, as 
being worthy of investigation. The Mayor of the city 
insisted that every clue, however slight, must be fol- 
lowed to the end. 

THE DETECTIVE A PRISONER. 

At a consultation between Mayor Cregier and the 
Superintendent of Police, who had already listened to 
Coughlin's story of the hiring of Dinan's "rig" for a 
friend, the possible connection of Coughlin with the 
case was taken up and Superintendent Hubbard ex- 
plained the result of his interview with the detective 
and his explanation of the white horse episode. 

" Have Detective Coughlin brought in again," said 
the Mayor, " I want to talk to him. I want to ask him 
some questions which I propose he shall answer at once 
to clear away this mystery. If he does not we must 
act promptly." 



60 THE CRONIN CASE. 

During the day the Superintendent of Police per- 
sonally visited Dr. Cronin' s office, in the Opera House 
Block, and also his late apartments in the Conklin resi- 
dence. Men were placed in charge to see that no one 
meddled with any of the murdered man's belongings. 

During the afternoon Attorney Hynes called on the 
Mayor, and the two had a conference in regard to the 
case, but its result or the matters brought out could 
not be ascertained. 

Detective Dan Coughlin was brought down to the 
Superintendent's office at 4:30 p. m. He stood the fire 
of questions for a while with a fair degree of self-pos- 
session. Then he became flurried and nervous, but 
said nothing that could be used against him. When 
the conference broke up at 6:30 the lips of all the par- 
ties were sealed. Coughlin left the room with Lieu- 
tenant of Detectives Elliott. He was then turned over 
to Detective Flynn. Coughlin and Flynn walked away 
together carelessly, but Coughlin was a prisoner. He 
was taken to a station and locked up. 

Miss Murphy, when confronted with the newly found 
evidence, concluded that she must have been mistaken 
in the man she was so positive before she had recog- 
nized as Dr. Cronin; and William Dwyer, the car con- 
ductor, who was so certain that Dr. Cronin had been a 
passenger on his car after the time of the murder, 
suddenly found that his health demanded a change 
of climate, and he promptly left Chicago for Canada. 



CHAPTEE IV. 

Offers of Reward— The Ghastly Find— Dr. Cronin's Body Re- 
covered—Identification — Lying in State — Tributes of Regard 
—The Last Journey — At Rest — " Good-by, Asthore." 

The friends of Dr. Cromn and the societies of which 
he was an honored member, persisted in their belief in 
his honor and discredited all stories against him. 

A circular offering a reward of $5,000 for informa- 
tion that might lead to the arrest and conviction of the 
principals in, accessories to, or instigators of his 
murder, or of $2,000 for satisfactory evidence that he was 
not dead, and regarding his whereabouts, was issued, 
signed by James F. Boland, as chairman of committee 
of societies and friends. 

For eighteen days the mystery of the disappearance 
continued and the controversy between the friends and 
enemies of the missing man raged fiercely. Rumors 
of his having been seen, of his stating that he was 
about to leave for France, assertions and contradictions, 
puzzled and annoyed the public. 

May 22, Henry Roesch, a street foreman of Lake 
View, with two workmen, John Fenninger and Wm. 
Michaels, inspected the Evanston avenue sewer catch- 
basin, which had been complained of as being choked 
up and offensive. It was at the corner of the avenue 
and North Fifty-ninth street that the men noticed the 
most foul air. The sand from the roadway at this point 
had rolled down into the ditch, damming up the water. 
The men went to work to shovel this out, and all re- 

(61) 



62 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



marked the terrible and unexplained stench about the 
locality. 

The catch-basin here is circular, built of brick, with 
a heavy wooden top. About two feet below this top is 
a barred iron grating set in the opening through which 
the water should flow. Foreman Koesch peered through 
this grating and saw "something white " floating in 
the water there. At first he thought it was the body of 
a dog, and the men wondered how a dog could have 
gotten in there. 




THE CATCH-BASIN. 

Closer inspection disclosed that it was the remains of 
a human being. Hastily removing the plank top of 
the catch-basin they found the nude corpse of a man 
partially covered with cotton batting that had been 
tossed in upon it. The basin is about four feet across 
and the water three feet deep. The body was floating, 
only the back and hips appearing on the surface ; the 
head, bent forward on the breast, was entirely sub- 
merged, the legs and feet were also out of sight, in the 
water. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 63 

Roesch telephoned to Captain Wing, of Lake View 
police station, the news of his discovery, and the Cap- 
tain, with officers, hurried in the patrol wagon to the 
place. The covering of the man~hole was removed and 
efforts made to draw up the corpse, but owing to the 
swollen, bloated condition of the body it was impossi- 
ble to drag it through the narrow space. Then the 
entire cap of the sewer was taken off, a blanket was 
lowered and worked under the body until it formed a 
kind of sling, and in this way the remains were dragged 
out — literally dragged, for so narrow was the opening 
in proportion to the fearfully bloated corpse that great 
patches of skin and much of the hair was scratched and 
torn off in passing through. 

The terrible object was laid at the side of the road. 
Captain "Wing looked at the face. In spite of disfigure- 
ment and loathsomeness he recognized the features. 

Before him was all that remained of Dr. Patrick 
Henry Cronin. 

About the neck, all that was left of the habiliments 
of life, was the badge of the murdered man's relig- 
ion, the Agnus Dei, a pious Catholic's safeguard. 
If the murderers respected that badge of faith it must 
have been from feelings akin to those which prompt 
Italian brigands to pray to the saints before preying 
upon unfortunate travellers. There is little doubt but 
that superstition was the cause of this symbol being 
left unmolested. 

The locality of this foul sepulture-place is one of 
dismal loneliness. No house is near it. Large trees 
shadow the north-east corner and form a concealing 



64 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



screen admirably adapted to hide those engaged in un- 
lawful, ungodly deeds. The other corners of the con- 
necting streets are quite bare. 




ENTRANCE DR. CRONIN'S OFFICE, 

CHICAGO OPEBA HOUSE. 

The Fifty-ninth street and Evanston avenue junc- 
tion is about 300 yards from the Argyle Park station 
on the Chicago and Evanston branch of the Chicago, 
Milwaukee & St. Paul Eailway. It is but a short 



THE CRONIN CASE. 65 

distance from the lake, and a little less than a mile 
north from where was found the gory, discarded 
coffin-trunk — at Evanston avenue and Sulzer street 
corner — on May 5, the day after the disappearance of 
Dr. Cronin. 

Wrapped in the blanket the body was carried in the 
patrol wagon to Lake View morgue and the Chicago 
police notified of its finding, by telephone. Little 
semblance to humanity the corpse presented in its 
bloated condition. In strips the flesh hung from the 
hands and feet, the swollen eyelids were partly open, 
eight murderous gashes in the head gaped wide, and 
dumbly told how each had done its part in letting out 
a good man's life. 

The identification of the body was complete beyond 
the shadow of a doubt. The remains were viewed by 
his close friends, T. T. Conklin, James Boland, the 
murdered Doctor's nephew, William Taylor, John F., 
Frank and Mortimer Scanlan, Patrick McGarry, T. T. 
Gleason and Messrs. O'Keefe & Ahern, who made the 
Doctor's clothing. Dr. Cronin wore false teeth on his 
lower jaw and the dentist, Dr. C. W. Lewis, who made 
them, had the cast used in their manufacture ; this, on 
comparison with the mouth of the corpse, he pro- 
nounced to be similar in every feature. He was posi- 
tive that the body was that of Dr. Cronin. Dr. Brandt 
professionally and scientifically examined the hair 
found in the trunk and emphatically declared it identi- 
cal with the hair remaining on the head of the body. 
Under the chin and about the feet were still tufts of 
cotton precisely like that found in the trunk. In short, 



66 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



the identification was so sure that none at that time, 
had the effrontery to dispute. 

By Birren & Carroll, undertakers, of Lake View, the 
remains of the slaughtered patriot were prepared for 
interment, from thence they were removed, on the after- 




DR. CRONIN'S OFFICE, 

WINDSOR THEATRE BUILDING. 



noon of May 25, to the First "Cavalry Armory. Mr. 
and Mrs. Conklin visited the undertakers on the morn- 
ing of that day to select a coffin. Mrs. Conklin had 



THE CRONIN CASE. 67 

not seen the face of her dead friend since the body 
was discovered, and at her request the box was opened 
and the features uncovered. She gazed at them closely 
for a moment, but without any traces of emotion, only 
saying, as she turned away, that she recognized the body 
beyond a doubt as that of Dr. Cronin. 

The casket selected was a very heavy one, and with 
the body weighed over 600 pounds. It was of beauti- 
ful workmanship; a metallic case handsomely mounted 
in gold. All the trimmings were gold, and from each 
of the handles was suspended a gold cord and tassel. 
The veneering was French walnut, and produced a 
beautiful contrast In the center of each panel of the 
lid was a gold wreath of appropriate design, the flow- 
ers being roses and pansies. Some tiny buds were 
delicately set in among the leaves. The plate was sil- 
ver. The inscription was as follows: 



PATKICK HENRY CRONIN, 

BORN 

APRIL 16, 1846. 

DIED 

MAY 4, 1889. 



LYING IN STATE. 

Under the roof of the armory of Battery D, on the 
night of May 25, in a catafalque of flags and flowers, 
mingled with the dreary emblems of grief, lay the 
body of Dr. Cronin. 

The body was not exposed to view at all. The many 
who came to get a glimpse of the victim of a horrible 
murder went away disappointed. 



68 THE CRONIN' CASE. 

The guard was relieved every four hours during the 
# night. The body remained in the Battery until 10 
o'clock A. M. of May 26. 

A sad scene was witnessed in the afternoon, when 
Mrs. Carroll, Dr. Cronin's sister, was admitted to the 
armory to take a last look at her dead brother's features. 
Workmen were busy arranging the draperies over- 
hanging the temporary catafalque, but in the presence 
of the heart-rending grief of the stricken sister, hammers 
were laid aside, heads were bared, and a still silence 
fell upon the group as dead brother and living sister 
parted. 

" It is my brother!" the lady cried, and the tears 
commenced to fall fast on the cold glass cover over 
which she leaned and that separated her lips from the 
lifeless form. She tried to kiss the disfigured face 
before her, but her lips pressed against the glass sur- 
face of the case while her heart-rending sobs echoed in 
the great drill-room. Her husband was almost overcome 
with emotion, and the group of men that stood about 
silently watched the scene and were deeply moved. 

" Come, let us go," said Mr. Carroll, tenderly, tak- 
ing his wife's arm. The lady leaned over the casket, 
leaving reluctantly. As she stepped back she said, 
lovingly, " Good-by, asthore," and her husband's sup- 
port was necessary as she walked away. After Mr. and 
Mrs. Carroll had viewed the remains, the lid was re- 
placed and the undertaker instructed not to open it 
again. 

Early on Sunday morning, May 26, Police Lieut. 
Wilson of the Central Detail, in command of a squad 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



69 



of police, arrived at the armory. The officers were 
drawn up in two lines on either side of the entrance. 
Then the doors were thrown open. 

The crowd which had gathered outside the building 
poured in, many from idle curiosity, and many because 




INTERIOR DR. CRONIN'S OFFICE, 

CHICAGO OPERA HOUSE. 

they were friends of the Doctor in life. It was a 
strange spectacle. People passed through the outer 
doors hurriedly, noisily talking. They reached the 



70 THE CRONIN CASE. 

inner doors, and there was a hush. On either side 
stood a sentry at parade rest, and just beyond was the 
catafalque. 

Many women were in the throng, but they nearly all 
passed on and out immediately after viewing the casket, 
while the men lingered to discuss the crime. 

At 9:30 the crowd was so great that the side door 
had to be opened to afford an exit. Later it was found 
necessary to station an officer there to keep the crowd 
moving. 

About 10 o'clock the squad of police was taken in 
from the outside of the armory, and a little later the 
doors were closed and the stream of people checked. 
The honorary pall-bearers marched out of the officers' 
room with bared heads and took their stations beside 
the catafalque. They were : J. P. South, High Council 
of Illinois Catholic Order of Foresters; Leopold 
Rohrer, Cathedral Court of Illinois Catholic Order of 
Foresters; Dr. D. G. Moore, High Court of Independ- 
ent Order of Foresters; E. E. Connery, Court Friend- 
ship, Independent Order of Foresters; C. S. Commour, 
Alcyone Council, Royal Arcanum ; John F. Beggs, 
Hancock Lodge, Ancient Order of United Workmen; 
C. D. Shoemaker, iEtna Lodge, Ancient Order of United 
Workmen; J. C. Br ay den, Royal League; JohnO'Cal- 
laghan and P. M. Carmody, Ancient Order of Hibernians. 

They were followed by the active pall-bearers, who 
took positions beside the casket. These were P. Mc- 
Garry, Luke Dillon. Capt O'Meara Condon, Thomas P. 
Tuite, F. T. Scan] an, Dan Sullivan, Charles Barry, and 
M. J. Kelly. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 71 

A moment later the doors were opened and the casket 
was borne out to the hearse, the police clearing the 
way. 

The procession was composed of military and civic 
societies and the route over which it passed was densely 
crowded. 

Shortly before noon the funeral cortege entered the 
church. A guard of honor composed of officers of the 
Hibernian Rifles preceded the casket. A catafalque 
stood between six lighted candles in the center aisle, 
and when the casket had been deposited thereon the 
celebration of the mass began. Schmidt's Mass in D 
minor was sung by the choir. 

At the conclusion of the mass the " Libera Me 
Domine" was sung by the choir, while the celebrant in 
cope and stole gave the absolutions. Father Agnew's 
voice, as he chanted the versicles, trembled perceptibly, 
and his eyes were filled with tears. 

The Rev. Chancellor Muldoon preached the funeral 
sermon. (This feeling, touching tribute to his com- 
municant and friend will be found in Chapter II.) 

It was one o'clock before the procession started from 
the cathedral and moved to the Union Depot by way of 
State, Erie, Dearborn, Lake, Clark and Madison streets. 
It was an hour reaching the depot. Three trains, com- 
posed of thirty-six cars, were waiting on the St. Paul 
tracks and carried the party to Calvary Cemetery. The 
trains were crowded and must have carried 2,500 pas- 
sengers. 

At the cemetery a considerable crowd was found 
waiting, having gone out by private conveyances or by 



72 THE CRONIN CASE. 

the suburban trains. The crowd at the cemetery ex- 
ceeded 3,000. 

AT REST "GOOD-BY, ASTHORE." 

There were handsome floral offerings placed beside 
the casket in the vault. A large lyre of white roses 
and callas bore on its base the inscription, " Martyr," 
and a card attached to it told that it was given by the 
Philadelphia Clan-na-Gael, who " mourned for their 
patriot brother." There were also three crosses of 
white roses, lilies and pansies. 

The crowd blocked the space around the vault. The. 
guard of Eifles had to force back the people to open a 
passage for the mourners when they emerged from the 
vault. The small procession returned to the train and 
the ceremony was over. 

Patrick Henry Cronin's body was entombed with 
honor. Will vengeance in this world overtake his 
brutal assassins, one and all? We shall see. 



CHAPTEE V. 

Three Indicted — Coughlin, O'Sullivan and Woodruff — Short Biog- 
raphies of the Prisoners — The Master Spirits Still Free — 
Coroner's Work Begun — His Jury Visit the Scenes of Murder 
and Burial — Hard on O' Sullivan — Mertes Heard the Fatal 
Blows — Mrs. Conklin and O'Sullivan — Their Interview — Luke 
Dillon's Talk of May 28. 

After seven hours review of the accumulated evi- 
dence up to May 28, the grand jury on that date re- 
turned indictments against Daniel Coughlin, the city 
police detective; Patrick O'Sullivan, the Lake View ice 
dealer; and Frank Woodruff, alias Black, the horse- 
thief, for the murder of Dr. Cronin. 

The personnel of the grand jury that passed upon 
the facts composed the following gentlemen: M. C. 
Hickey, foreman; John J. Maguire, *S. M. Staples, 
John B. Honisby, Joseph Sakeys, John J. Sullivan, 
John E. Gleason, John S. Coining, M. L. Penny, J. 
W. Dutton, L. Oswald, Frank G. Haerther, Jos. H. 
Abbott, B. J. Bennett, A. C. Myer, B. Seesland, 
Chris. McDonough, P. Kerrigan, Fredk. Edgeworth 
and W. Hawkes. 

The witnesses who gave their testimony before the 
jury were: John J. Cronin, the murdered Doctor's brother, 
who told of the victim's long-seated fear of violence 
and th,e many threats he received; Dr. Brandt, of Lake 
View, who explained the condition of the body when 
found, the wounds upon the head, their fatal nature, 
etc., Dr. Belfield, who analyzed the blood and thought 
that the stains in the trunk had come from Dr. Cronin' s 

(73) 



74 THE CRONIN CASE. 

body; Fred. Roesch, the street foreman, who found 
the body; T. T. Conklin and wife, with whom Dr. 
Cronin resided; the Carlson family — husband, wife, 
daughter and son — of whom the cottage slaughter-pen 
was rented; Milkman Mertes, who, living in the neigh- 
borhood, thinks that he overheard the tumult of the 
murderous struggle; Thomas O'Neill, private secretary 
to the Mayor, who took down Coughlin's statement 
and read it from his notes; Willard J. Smith, and his 
brother J. S. Smith, the " Smiths" from Houghton, 
Mich., who served to explode Coughlin's mythical friend 
"Thomas Smith''; Justice Mahoney, who introduced 
Iceman O' Sullivan to Dr. Cronin and whose testimony 
compelled Sullivan to admit that he was a member of 
the Clan-na-Gael; P. Dinan, the liveryman of whom 
the buggy and white horse that bore Dr. Cronin to his 
doom ^sVere hired; Capt. Schaack, Lieut. Schuettler, Of- 
ficer George Hiatt of the Chicago police, and Capt. Wing 
of the Lake View police. 

[The testimony of all these witnesses will necessarily 
have to be given at much greater length hereafter, in 
this work. It is unnecessary to here give the evidence 
of each of those named: — repetitions of stories must 
occur in a history of this nature, but such repetitions 
will be made as infrequent as possible.] 

THE INDICTED MEN. 

Daniel Coughlin was born in the year 1859 in 
Hancock, Mich. About seven years ago he moved to 
Chicago and brought such credentials with him as im- 
mediately brought him into the good graces of the 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



75 



Triangle, and a position was found for him in the city 
supply department. 

Prior to his advent in Chicago, Coughlin had been 
in the mining districts of Leadville, Col., and other 
parts of the West. Under Mayor Harrison, Dec. 15, 
1884, Coughlin went on the police force, being assigned 
to patrol duty at East Chicago Avenue Station. Dan 




DANIEL COUGHLIN. 

was appointed with the noted " 300 batch," and entered 
upon his duties as guardian of the peace as a member 
of Camp 96, afterward Camp 20. 

Alexander Sullivan's influence was such that Cough- 
lin always had easy times and was soon made a 
detective. He became a pet of Captain Schaack and 



76 THE CRONIN CASE. 

stood entirely too close to that official for the good of 
the discipline of the force. 

During the anarchist troubles Dan Coughlin was 
useful to his superior officers as an expert in explosives, 
having had experience in blasting in the mining dis- 
tricts. For about two years prior to his arrest 
Coughlin had traveled in citizen's clothes, having been 
promoted from a patrolman to a trusted detective. 
Jake Lowenstein, who figured prominently some time 
ago in the Times charges of dishonesty against certain 
police officials, has been for several years Coughlin' s 
bosom friend and partner. Later on, Mike Whalen, 
suspended from the force for suspected complicity in 
the Cronin murder and a member of Camp 20, super- 
seded Jake Lowenstein as partner of Coughlin, and was 
his confidant up to the time of Coughlin's arrest- 
Dan's number in Camp 20 was 94, showing an old 
membership in the camp, as each new member was 
given the next highest number, and there are nearly 
400 members of the infamous camp. 

Coughlin has a father and elder brother in Hancock, 
Mich., where the Coughlin homestead is situated. He 
was married in this city about a year or more after his 
appointment on the police force, and has one child, a 
little girl. The mother and child now reside at No. 
116 Jay street, where for several years Dan Coughlin's 
home has been. 

Coughlin, when arrested was a man of large propor- 
tions, weighing 186 pounds, which adipose was pretty 
equally distributed in all parts of his body. In height 
he stands 6 feet and 1 inch, is broad-shouldered and 



THE CRONIN CASE. 77 

big-limbed, with a blonde complexion, and were it not 
for his small, deep-set eyes would be considered a good 
looking man. 

Patrick O' Sullivan was born in Galena, 111., thirty- 
one years ago. He, it seems, was the Judas Iscariot 
of the plot to murder Cronin. He it was who called 
the victim to an errand of mercy that he might be 
murdered by the midnight assassins in the Carlson 
cottage. 

For ten years or more Patrick O. Sullivan, as he has 
been known and called himself until his arrest and in- 
dictment, when it became known that his real name 
was O'Sullivan, has lived in Chicago. He went there 
from Green County, Wis., where the family had been 
settled for some years. O'Suliivan's number in Camp 
20 is 356. He is 5 feet 11 inches in height, and 
weighed, when arrested, 139 pounds. He has thick 
black hair, blue eyes, and a deep, perpetual scowl of 
the eyebrows. O' Sullivan looks to-day as he has looked 
since the trial began. 

Before embarking in the ice business in Lake View 
O'Sullivan had been employed for some years as a 
driver for the North Side Street Railway Company, 
and when the late strike occurred on that road he sym- 
pathized with the strikers, and aided them in every 
way possible. About six or seven years ago O'Sullivan 
embarked in the ice business, with an office at Lincoln 
and Webster avenues. About a year or more ago he 
bought the property at the corner of Roscoe and Bos- 
worth streets, diagonally in the rear of the Carlson 
cottage, where he lived up to the time of his arrest 



78 THE CRONIN CASE. 

upon a state warrant sworn to by John J. Cronin on 
May 25. O' Sullivan being a bachelor, Mrs. Whalen, 
the wife of his cousin, kept the house, and boarded the 
iceman and his four or five employes. He entered ac- 
tively into politics in Lake View, and in the spring of 
1888, was a candidate for alderman on the Democratic 
side, and was beaten. 

O'Sullivan was one of the organizers of a Clan-na- 
Gael camp in Lake View, which was known as the 
Washington Literary Society. In the organization of 
this camp the services of Dr. Cronin were sought and 
secured, and it is the belief that even at this early date 
(in February) the real purpose in getting Dr. Cronin 
to assist in forming the Lake View camp was to get 
him out late at night in a lonely part of the suburban 
village. Be that as it may, O' Sullivan first met Cronin 
at the Washington Literary Society, and last met him 
when he made the infamous contract. 

Frank Woodruff, alias Black, the horse-thief, or 
worse, is the son of a farmer in San Jose, Cal. He 
was born in Wisconsin ; has been in several peniten- 
tiaries for petty offenses. He last located in Chicago 
about April 1. His powers as an original and pictur- 
esque liar are phenomenal. 

It will be remembered that Woodruff led the police 
to the identical spot where the trunk was found. He 
said that he had taken it from Watrous's barn on North 
State street, and that it had contained the body of a 
woman wrapped in cotton. Later developments con- 
clusively proved that Dr. Cronin's body was in the 
trunk. Woodruff's story about the woman and the 



THE CRONIN CASE. 79 

State street barn, Alice, the " Doc," and all the con- 
comitants of that fine fairy tale were swept away and 
the culprit stood circumstantially convicted of com- 
plicity in the disposition, if no more, of Dr. Cronin's 
body. 

Woodruff was arraigned on the morning of May 28 
for larceny as bailee, to which he pleaded " not guilty." 
He evidently had no presentiment of the action the 
grand jury would take against him on a graver charge, 
for he was still figuring on trading valuable evidence 
in the Cronin case for a nolle pros of the indictment 
against him for larceny. He professed to know where 
King and Fairburn could be found inside of two hours, 
and all he wanted was freedom from prosecution for 
horse-stealing to put the police on their track. 

The formality of serving the capiases was pursued, 
but as the defendants were all under restraint, they 
gave no evidence of emotion or surprise. 

O' Sullivan was arraigned May 28 before Justice 
Kersten at the East Chicago Avenue Station a second 
time, to be sure that no question of lack of jurisdiction 
could be raised. He was then taken to a cell in the 
station and thence to the county jail. 

One of .the most interesting features of this grand 
jury's action is that it found no indictments against the 
Clan-na-Gael leaders and other Irishmen of prominence 
who have been popularly marked out as parties to the 
plot. The matter of the Clan-na-Gael trials and sen- 
tences were not broached, nor was there a particle of 
evidence adduced upon the popular theory of political 
conspiracy. 



80 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



The grand jury closed its deliberations at 7 o'clock 
and filed down to the court-room, where Judge Wil- 
liamson was in waiting. The true bills were returned, 
capiases issued, and the jury discharged for the day. 

"We have a strong circumstantial case," said State's 
Attorney Longnecker as he issued from the jury-room 
at the end of the day, and in reply to the eagerly 
pressed inquiry on that point, he declared: 

"No evidence was heard that implicated anyone but 
the three against whom true bills were found. 

" This is the end of the present grand jury's work on 
this case," he further said, " and the jury goes back 
to the routine consideration of jail cases to-morrow." 





OOEONER HERTZ. 



T. T. OONKLIN. 



The Coroner's jury which was impaneled on Thurs- 
day, May 23, to hold the inquest upon the body of Dr. 
Cronin, met at the Coroner's office on the morning of! 
May 28, to begin hearing testimony in the case. W. S. 
Forrest was present to look after the interests of his 
client, Daniel Coughlin, but remained only a few min- 
utes, for, as soon as all the jurors had arrived, Coroner 



THE CRONIN CASE. 81 

Hertz proposed that they should first go out and view 
the locality where the body and trunk were found. 

The jury selected by Coroner Hertz to make the in- 
vestigation was composed of intelligent business men — 
all of them in middle life. R. S. Critchell, of It. S. 
Critchell & Co. ; Victor U. Sutter, clerk for Sutter 
Bros. ; Justus Killian, chief clerk of R Madlener ; H. 
A. Haugan, of Haugan & Lindgren; John H. Van 
Housen, president of the Steuben Wine Co. ; Rudolph 
Sief ert, tobacco dealer . 

The jurors proceeded to Lake View in a procession 
of carriages; vehicles with reporters following close. 
The Coroner traveled in his own one-horse buggy and 
arrived last at the Carlson cottage. Policemen were 
in charge of the building and a crowd in possession of 
the sidewalk. Men, women and children hung over 
the fence and sat on the walk — all staring at the story- 
and-a-half building as if it were covered with blood- 
spots and might at any moment turn into a ghost with 
streaming red wounds. 

WHAT THE JUEY SAW. 

Coroner Hertz pointed out to the jurymen the splat- 
ters of blood on the south wall and the dark spots be- 
neath the reddish-yellow paint on the floor. Finger- 
marks of yellow paint on the broken rocker were 
examined and the lamp whose paint-smeared stand 
indicated that the floor was hastily daubed in the night 
time. The finger-marks on the shutter. The jury 
saw the prints of the naked feet on the painted floor 
and in the hall and bedroom adjoining. Tacks with 



82 



THE CBONI8 0A8&. 



shreds of carpet clinging to them and tack-holes indi- 
cating that the carpet had been hurriedly torn from 
the floor were found. Juror Critchell asked some ques- 
tions about the previous occupants and the condition 
of the room when rented to the supposed murderers. 

After everything had been minutely examined about 
the cottage, inside and out, the jury and the Coroner, 



WHAT THE JURY SAW. 




ALL BLOOD-BESPATTERED. 

under the direction of Lieut, Spangler of the Lake 
View police, drove out Evanston avenue to the place 
where the trunk was found. A halt of the procession 
for two minutes was long enough for Mr. Hertz and 
the policeman to indicate the spot where the blood- 
stained trunk had been hidden. A few minutes' ride 
further north brought the train of carriages to the 
Argyle man-hole. The position of the body was shown, 



THE ORONIN CASE. 88 

the depth of the water in the basin measured, little 
bunches of cotton pointed out, and the surroundings 
noted. 

The jurors all took a long look into the dismal hole. 

"How could they have crowded the body in there?" 
was asked. "It is hardly wide enough to permit a 
man's body to go in straight, and Cronin's corpse was 
doubled up!" 

Melancholy contemplation destroyed the effect of 
the ride through the bracing air and among the fine 
scenery, and the party was quiet and solemn when it 
returned to the Coroner's office. There a consultation 
was held and the inquest adjourned until 10 o'clock 
A. M. of the next day. 

SOME OF THE TESTIMONY 

on which the three men were indicted is sufficiently in- 
teresting to warrant its introduction at more length 
than the mention made at the opening of this chapter. 
When the younger Carlson gave his evidence before 
the grand jury, under the questioning of State's At- 
torney Longenecker and Foreman Hickey, he told a 
startling story. 

Having described the person who rented the cottage 
as has already been described, as about 30, with a 
blonde mustache, striped pants, black frock coat, and 
of rather stout build, he proceeded to tell the jurors, 
that the man was an intimate friend of P. O' Sullivan, 
the iceman. 

"How do you know that?" asked Judge Longe- 
necker. 



84 



THE ORONIN CASE, 



"Why, every time I saw him out at the house he 
went to Sullivan's." 

"Did he go to the Sullivan house before he went to 
the cottage?" 



WHAT THE JURY SAW. 




FINGER MARKS ON THE BLIND. 

"Yes. He used to leave the key with Sullivan." 

"Latterly was that the case?" 

"No; every time he came latterly he used to com- 
plain that he had lost the key, and so got away all 
our keys from us, so that we could not get into the 
cottage." 



THE CRONIN CASE. 85 

" Would your tenant talk long with Sullivan ?" 

" Why, yes. They used to walk about conversing, 
stop and consult, and walk again. They were intimate, 
I should judge, as intimate as brothers." 

"Did you ever talk to Sullivan about the renter?" 

"Yes. Once Sullivan said in reply to my questions 
about the man — he gave the name of Williams — 'O, 
he is all right. He is good for the rent. I'll pay it 
out of my own pocket if he fails to do so.' " 

" Did he ever pay it out of his own pocket?" 

" Not directly. But I'll tell you what I saw once. 
I saw Sullivan handing Williams some money before 
he paid the rent. This was in his barn where the ice 
wagons were kept." 

"Who made out the receipts you gave for the rent?" 

"Williams, Sullivan's friend. He made them out 
at Sullivan's house, I believe. I signed them." 

The receipts were produced. 

Carlson, who had been taken to see Coughlin in his 
cell, was asked whether he ever saw him around the 
murder cottage. 

Carlson replied: "No, I did not, but I saw him 
with O'Sullivan in a Lincoln avenue saloon, I don't know 
exactly where." 

His father, mother and sister were recalled, and 
corroborated him fully as to the intimacy between the 
person who went by the name of Frank Williams and 
P. O'Sullivan. 

And then a new lead was struck. Capt. Schaack 
was put on the stand. He testified that he had dis- 
covered that Coughliu and O'Sullivan, the iceman, were 



86 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



intimate friends. They are collateral cousins, so to 
speak. Coughlin is a cousin of Mike Whalen, the de- 
tective, and Mike Whalen is a cousin of O' Sullivan. 
O'Sullivan also claims kinship with a somewhat obnoxi- 
ously prominent Irishman and a former leader in the 



WHAT THE JURY SAW. 




TELL-TALE SPOTS ON WALL AND FLO0& 

Clan-na-Gael. Coughlin was called up by telephone 
at the station by O'Sullivan to meet him at down- town 
resorts; also at the saloon corner of Lincoln and Ful- 
lerton avenues. Schaack also stated that he had dis- 
covered that after March 4, and for some time previous, 



THE CRONIN CASE. 87 

O'Sullivan had lots of money. He spent it lavishly and 
displayed a large roll. As it was early in the ice sea- 
son, and as O'Sullivan is not reputed to be wealthy, this 
display attracted much attention. 

Following testimony in relation to O'Sullivan and next 
in order of importance, was the testimony of Justice 
Mahoney to the effect that O'Sullivan and Cronin were 
old comrades in the Clan-na-Gael #rder. As nearly as 
it can possibly be given Mahoney' s testimony was as 
follows: 

"I was a member of the U. B. (Clan-na-Gael) society 
March 22. I was then a candidate for the office of Justice 
of the Peace. It was suggested tome, by Pat O'Sullivan, 
I think, that it would help me if I were a member of 
the Clan. He said there had been a meeting for or- 
ganization some time before and Dr. Cronin was pres- 
ent: that he would come again to introduce new 
members." 

"Did O'Sullivan appear to recognize Cronin then?" 
was asked. 

"Oh, yes. He was an old member, O'Sullivan said, 
and Cronin was the organizer for the district. He said 
he intended to get his transfer from his old camp. 
Well, I went with O'Sullivan to the camp meeting, as he 
called it, and was duly inducted as a member. My 
name had been proposed at the previous meeting by 
O'Sullivan." 

" Whatposition did O'Sullivan occupy atthat meeting ?" 

"He was placed at the inner door by Cronin." 

"Did Cronin explain why he put him in that po- 
sition?" 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



"Well, he said that he knew O'Sullivan as an old 
member, and he was entitled to the post of honor." 

"You were asked afterward by O'Sullivan to take him 
(O'Sullivan) to Oronin to be introduced, and to talk 
about the ice contract?" 

"Yes." 

"Were you not a little surprised at the talk about an 
introduction and th^ character of the contract?" 

WHAT THE JURY SAW. 




THE BLOODY EOOT-PRINTS. 

"Well, yes— but I thought that O'Sullivan merely 
wanted an excuse to become better acquainted with a 
pleasant man like Cronin. Cronin seemed to take 
kindly to me, and perhaps O'Sullivan thought that I 
might be able to make them both good friends. I did 
not think much about it at the time." 

"Did you since?" 

"Why, yes. When I look over the whole thing, I 
am a little puzzled over the matter." 

"Did O'Sullivan speak to you since about his and 
your meeting with Cronin?" 



THE CRONIN CASE. 89 

"Yes. He said 'the less said about it the better.' " 

"The meetings which you attended were known to out- 
siders as meetings of the Washington Literary Society ?" 

"Yes ; but we on the inside knew them as Clan-na- 
Gael or U. B. societies." 

Mr. Mahoney was asked to give the names of some 
others who joined them. He hesitated for a time, but 
finally named several, among others Whalen, the street 
car conductor, Tierney, the iceman, and a former 
conductor. 

Milkman Mertes, who resides near the Carlson cot- 
tage, testified that on the evening of the murder, about 
9 o'clock, he passed the Carlson cottage on his way to 
Friese's grocery store, going for kerosene oil. As he 
was passing a buggy drove up and stopped at the gate. 
A tall man, wearing a slouch hat and carrying a leather 
case or satchel, jumped out and walked up the steps. He 
was evidently expected, for he did not have to knock at 
the door. It was opened from within as he reached the 
doorstep. The shutters were closed and the room 
was lighted. The man who remained in the buggy 
turned around, whipped up the horse, and drove 
rapidly south. Shortly after the tall man had entered 
the cottage loud voices were heard. Mertes did not 
stop to listen, but proceeded to the store. Returning 
twenty minutes later he heard the noise as of men ham- 
mering nails into planks. 

"How did you recognize it as such a sound?" asked 
Foreman Hickey. 

"I am a carpenter by trade," replied Mertes, "and I 
ought to know." 



90 THE CRONIN CASK 

An eye witness and auditor of the actions and words 
of both Mrs. Conklin and P. O'Sullivan, when the ice- 
man was brought to the Oonklin-Cronin flat by an of- 
ficial of the Pinkerton agency, thus describes that 
strange interview: 

" When I reached the Conklin-Oronin residence," he 
says, " the Conklins were out. I spent two hours wait- 
ing for their return. Shortly after 7 o'clock a coupe 
stopped in front of the Conklin flat and two men got 
out of it. One was Frank Murray, Assistant Superin- 
tendent of the Pinkerton Agency, and the other was P. 
O'Sullivan, the man now held as one of the arch-con- 
spirators of the Doctor's death. I stopped Mr. Murray 
just as he was going up the steps and asked him for 
news regarding the Doctor's whereabouts. He said he 
had none, and shut the door in my face. 

" In the course of a few minutes Mr. and Mrs. 
Conklin returned and I followed them up-stairs, and by 
Mr. Conklin was invited into the Doctor's private office, 
where O' Sullivan and Mr. Murray were seated on a sofa. 

" ' Take a seat over there,' said Mr. Conklin to me, 
'and you can hear what O'Sullivan has to say, inas- 
much as the man who toot the Doctor away brought one 
of his ice cards.' 

U I took the seat indicated and watched and listened 
for developments. In the meantime Mrs. Conklin, who 
had been pacing the floor, wringing her hands and 
moaning that she knew Dr. Cronin had been murdered, 
pulled the Doctor's revolving chair very close up to 
O'Sullivan and began to question him, assisted by Mr. 
Murray. The iceman appeared extremely nervous and 



THE CRONIN CASE. 91 

moved about in all sorts of positions, all the while toy- 
ing with his big, black, soft felt hat He denied that he 
had sent for Dr. Cronin or that he had authorized any- 
body to send for him. 

" 'How did you come to engage Dr. Cronin as your 
physician when no one in your family or in your em- 
ploy was sick?' (T Sullivan was asked. 

" To this he gave the explanation which brings in 
the name of Justice Mahoney, of Lake View. Then 
in tones anything but mild Mrs. Conklin commanded 
O' Sullivan to stand up. He did so, very awkwardly, 
and his face turned two or three different colors. 

" 'No, the man who called for the Doctor and took 
him away was not near so tall as you are. I think he was 
about 5 feet 6 inches. He was just about your height and 
your build,' addressing me after asking me to stand up. 
(I am just 5 feet 8 inches.) 'He was very dark com- 
plexioned; even darker than you are,' addressing 
O' Sullivan. ' He had a black mustache, was smooth- 
shaved otherwise, wore a dark or black suit of clothes, 
and wore a black, soft felt hat, just like yours, only not 
so large; the brim was more narrow. He was about 30 
or 35 years old. I should say that he had black eyes, 
and they danced about as though he was very nervous. 
He kept telling the Doctor to hurry — that the man was 
very badly hurt. I sat in the front window and watched 
them get into the buggy and drive north on Clark 
street. The horse was perfectly white, or looked so to 
me, and the rig had the appearance of just having been 
taken out of a livery-stable.' 

" Mr. Murray, Mr. Conklin, Mr. O' Sullivan and my- 



92 THE CRONIN CASE. 

self left the house together. Mr. Murray told O'Sul- 
livan that he was convinced of his innocence and that 
he might go." 

In the light of subsequent events, however, it seems 
that Mr. Murray, Assistant Superintendent of the Pin- 
kerton Detective Agency, had allowed those keen per- 
ceptive faculties usually ascribed to gentlemen of his 
profession, to, as it were, become, befogged, if not en- 
tirely blinded. 

WHAT LUKE DILLON THOUGHT. 

The Philadelphia Cronin-supporting Clan-na-Gael, 
Luke Dillon, in discussing the indictments on May 28, 
said: — "I do not think it wise to mention the names of 
any prominent persons who are said to be implicated 
in the plot to kill Dr. Cronin, until the evidence is con- 
clusive against them. It would not be just or fair to 
create prejudice against parties who may be innocent. 
At the same time I would rather see the actually guilty 
persons who committed the deed go free than the in- 
stigators of the plot. If any one should hang for this 
crime it is the person or persons who instigated others 
to do the bloody work.'" 

"Do you think it possible that those who insti- 
gated the plot made the murderers believe that Dr. 
Cronin was a friend of Le Caron and a British spy ? " 

"It is possible, if the murderers were ignorant 
enough. As a matter of fact Le Caron was chairman 
of the tribunal that expelled Dr. Cronin from the 
Clan-na-Gael. That does not look as if Le Caron and 
Dr. Cronin were friends, and all members of the order 
are aware of the fact that I have just mentioned." 



CHAPTEB VI. 

Le Caron, the Informer Speaks — Croriin Anticipated Assassina- 
tion—Mrs. T. T. Conklin Testifies -Dr. Cronin told Her Alex- 
ander Sullivan Would Have Him Killed— Hagerty Repeats 
Alexander Sullivan's Words, Abusive of Cronin — Mrs. Lo- 
masney and the Trianglers — Their Cruel, Treacherous Deeds— 
A Man Sent to Death, His Family Left to Starve — Verdict of 
the Coroner's Jury — Alexander Sullivan in Cell 25, M urderers' 
Row. 

As if to fasten upon those who would slay not only 
Dr. Cronin, but his good name also, the unparalleled 
infamy of their vile deeds, at this time came a letter 
reciting the substance of an interview, in London, with 
Le Caron, the confessed spy, with whom the Clan-na- 
Gael leaders, his sponsors in that order, classed Dr. 
Cronin, for the purpose of exciting their tools to mur- 
der him. Le Caron, bad though he may be, had more 
manliness than those who denounced him ; he did not 
utter slanderous lies against a man betrayed and 
slaughtered. The communication is dated, " London, 
May 25," and reads thus: 

"Since the British spy, Major Le Caron, retired from 
the witness box in the Parnell trial, the public has al- 
most forgotten him, but he turns up to-day in inter- 
views in the Evening News and Post with the distinct 
charge that Cronin was murdered by the friends of a 
certain person in Chicago. Le Caron says he was quite 
intimate with Cronin and used to live five doors from 
him. In reviewing Cronin' s prominent career in the 
Irish movement Le Caron says he was an ardent advo- 
cate of the dynamite policy, and, owing to his scientific 



94 THE OBONIN CASE, 

attainments, he was appointed and acted as a sort of an 
instructor in the use and the handling of explosives. 
After giving the causes of the sharp quarrel between 
Cronin and the person in question, beginning in 1881, 
and coming down to the trial of last November, Le 
Caron was asked: 

"Do you think Cronin would have split on this 
man?" 

" My own impression is that he would not," answered 
Le Caron; " but if he wished to he might have been of 
great value, as he could have told much of interest and 
importance to the authorities. That he possessed such 
knowledge is well known, and, as he had told so much 
that he should not have said, it may have been feared 
that he would say more." 

" How did Cronin stand in the fight between Egan 
andDevoy?" 

"He sided with Devoy," was his answer. 

" Have you heard of any threats against Cronin in 
connection with the dispute in Chicago?" 

"You can state this, and I am willing to have it 
published, that for some time past threats have been 
made against Cronin, and they have been made in my 
presence, not once, but repeatedly. They were threats 
of violence by the anti-Cronin faction." 

"Do you think there are men in the organization 
who would thus murder a man like Cronin?" 

"There are many in the Chicago organization," said 
Le Caron, " who would unhesitatingly kill any man if 
they thought it their duty to do so. They would not 
do it for money, but if they thought it best for the or- 



THE CBOHIN CASE, 95 

ganization they would kill anybody they were told to." 
" Do you connect the threats you have mentioned 
with the actual commission of the crime?" 

iC I have no moral doubt," answered Le Caron, speak- 
ing with emphasis, "that those threats were uttered 
in no idle spirit, and that they are connected with the 
removal of Cronin." 

" Do you think you know the murderers? " 
" Yes, I am as positive that I know the men who 
murdered Cronin as I am positive that I am sitting 
here. I could name the leader of the crime beyond 
question, but it would be quite inexcusable for me to 
give the names for publication." 

"Were you surprised at the murder?" 
" I cannot say that I was. Cronin' s murder is only 
a side light of the organization in America, and is 
quite in accord with the sentiments and actions of 
members of the revolutionary body." 

" Do you think Cronin was coming to London?" 
"No, I do not think he was." 
In commenting on the interview the News says: 
" Le Caron confidentially uttered the names of sev- 
eral men whom he believed were the murderers of 
Cronin, one especially as the leader, but all we are at 
liberty to state is that the persons thus referred to have 
not as yet figured in the published reports of the 
crime." 

The reader will note the date, May 25, of the above 
interview and will remember that at that date the Coro- 
ner's inquest had not been held and certain names had 
not yet been mentioned in any official investigation. 



96 THE OBONIN CASE. 

This testimony is from a man whom Dr. Cronin, a fair 
and open antagonist, denounced as a spy and traitor 
to the Irish cause, in 1886. 

The Coroner's work of investigation and hearing 
testimony began on June 3, Messrs. W. J. Hynes and 
Luther Laflin Mills assisted the State's Attorney, and 
Lawyer W. S. Forrest appeared on behalf of Daniel 
Coughlin. 

The inquest was not concluded until June 11 The 
testimony was voluminous and clear. It will not be 
given at any length here, for the reason that during the 
trial, and in the speeches and arguments of the lawyers, 
both for the prosecution and defense, every atom of 
evidence will be rehearsed and recapitulated, and to en- 
large on the statements at this time would cause need- 
less repetition. 

From the great mass of evidence given by all then 
known to have cognizance of any facts bearing upon 
the crime, it was made plain that Dr. Cronin had long, 
and with good reason, feared that he would meet death 
by cowardly assassination. He did not fear any man 
who would attack him openly and give him a " chance 
for his life," but he knew that the murderous blow 
would be dealt by the hand of a skulking assassin, and 
such a fate he was brave enough to acknowledge he 
feared. 

Personal hatred it was that sought his taking off. 
Personal hatred and a desire for safety from punish- 
ment, for liberty to luxuriate still longer on stolen 
wealth, had created the wish and plot to silence him 
forever. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 97 

He knew the men who had, by dark and subtle work- 
ing, imposed themselves upon the Irish National move- 
ment, forced themselves to the front, and gained su- 
preme power, with absolute control of the hundreds 
of thousands of dollars in the treasury of the order, 
had squandered, for their own benefit, that money ; had 
been false to their oaths and those for whom they were 
supposed to act ; had betrayed to prison and death the 
dupes they had sent out on murderous missions, and, 
with all, had so cunningly manipulated affairs, so well 
preserved their influence, that they walked free of pun- 
ishment and still possessed the power to laugh at and 
crush any who would expose their misdeeds. It was 
this vile clique that Dr. Cronin was battling against, 
these were the men against whom he had, slowly, but 
with untiring devotion to his patriotic duty, gathered 
a mass of testimony that would convict them of the 
crimes he charged against them and would bury them 
beneath mountain-heaps of infamy. At the same time 
he knew these men would not scruple to take his life, 
if by so doing they could destroy their accuser and the 
evidence he held against them. They had previously 
tried to ruin his reputation, socially and professionally. 
They had caused him to be expelled from the order as 
a traitor; but they had not silenced his tongue, they 
had not broken his pen, nor had they paralyzed his 
active body and brain. Death alone could silence 
Cronin, and they killed him. 

Mrs. T. T. Conklin's evidence was most important 
and startling. This lady, her hufeband and Dr. Cronin 
had been close friends for years, the Doctor having made 

7 



98 THE CRONIN CASE. 

his home at Mr. T. T. Conklin' s house. In her testimo- 
ny Mrs. Conklin described the nervous and impatient 
manner of the man who had called with the white horse 
and buggy, to lure Dr. Cronin to death. She told how 
reluctant he had been to enter the room when invited ; 
how he urged haste and hurried the Doctor away, even 
while he was talking to a friend on the sidewalk. She 
swore positively to the identification of Dinan's white 
horse; had fully recognized it when exhibited fo her 
by a reporter; and she swore that Dr. Cronin told her 

ALEXANDER SULLIVAN WOULD HAVE HIM KILLED. 

This was the first time the name of Alexander Sul- 
livan had been publicly mentioned in the criminal pro- 
ceedings following the murder. 

Dr. Cronin had told her that his life had been 
threatened, and warned her husband and herself, that 
if he ever remained long over-due and without notifying 
them, they were to become suspicious and to hunt him 
up. He had frequently telephoned them when detained 
by business in order that they might not be alarmed. 

Mrs. Conklin was asked if the Doctor had ever men- 
tioned the names of the persons he suspected. He had 
named one person who would be the source of any 
attempts on his life. 

" Who was that person?" asked the Coroner. 

" Alexander Sullivan." 

Firmly, clearly, and in a tone that showed how 
religiously the witness believed that Dr. Cronin was 
right in his selecti9n of the person — the name was 
given. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 99 

"Dr. Cronin told me he had information very detri- 
mental to Alexander Sullivan. It would probably ruin 
him," she added. 

Again like testimony was given by Mr. Conklin ; how 
the Doctor had several times spoken of the danger to 
his life, and had mentioned the name of Alexander 
Sullivan as the source of his fears. The cause assigned 
for anticipating danger from this one man was that he 
had exposed him, that Alexander Sullivan would be 
ruined when all was known, and that he would get the 
Doctor " put out of the way if possible." 

Mr. Frank Scanlan testified that Dr. Cronin had told 
him of his fears of personal injury. Alexander Sul- 
livan was the man he feared — not personally, but as the 
originator of his murder by stealthy means. 

Justice John A. Mahoney told how he had, at 
O'Sullivan's solicitation, gone with the iceman to intro- 
duce him to the Doctor in order that the fatal contract 
might be made; " but the performance was an unnec- 
essary one, as the two men were evidently well and 
previously acquainted." 

Henry Morten sen was found to be the expressman 
who carted the furniture from No. 117 Clark street to 
the Carlson cottage, and he gave evidence to that effect. 

Chief of Police Hubbard told of the statements 
made to him by Woodruff and Coughlin, and his testi- 
mony was damaging to both prisoners. 

Desk Sergeant Paul Hoefig, of the East Chicago 
Avenue Police Station, testified to many and mysterious 
conversations through the station telephone between 
Coughlin and 0' Sullivan. 



100 THE CRONIN CASE. 

J. D. Hagerty's evidence was even more sensational 
than that of Mrs. Conklin. He repeated words that 
had fallen from the lips of Alexander Sullivan . 

The Coroner asked : 

"Has Alexander Sullivan ever spoken to you about Dr. 
Cronin? and if so state when, where, and what he said." 

" To the best of my recollection it was at the trial of 
Dr. Cronin, which occurred, I believe, in 1885. The 
conversation, as set forth in my affidavit, was in sub- 
stance that the Doctor was a scoundrel and a menace 
to the Irish cause, and that it would be a benefit if the 
cause were rid of him. This occurred in a conversa- 
tion which took place while we were walking from the 
hall on West Madison street, in which the Doctor had 
been tried, to La Salle street." 

" Did Alexander Sullivan say anything to you that 
night about having an idea that Dr. Cronin' s life ought 
to be taken?" 

" That was my impression. That was the view I 
took of the conversation, and I must say that I coin- 
cided with him at the time. I believed that men who 
were trying to get the secrets of people who were try- 
ing to elevate themselves, should be exterminated." 

" At that time you had the same opinion?" 

"From the reports that I had heard, especially from 
Mr. Crean, who is now dead, and who, with other men, 
had been instrumental in scattering this information, 
which, as I believe, was scattered for the removal of 
Dr. Cronin." 

"Did Alexander Sullivan use the words that 'Cronin 
ought to be removed' ? " 



THE CRONIN CASE. 101 

u That was my impression at the time." 

" Did you get the impression that that was what he 
meant?" 

" Certainly I did." 

" Could he at that time or any time later have spoken 
to others in the same way?" 

"Most undoubtedly — to hundreds." 

"Did you know whether Tim Crean and Alexander 
Sullivan were intimate friends?" 

"I am certain that they were close associates." 

" And Tim Crean was the man who circulated the 
information?" 

"Yes, because he told me the same things that 
Alexander Sullivan had said — that this man was a 
traitor. The word 'traitor,' to an Irishman's vision, 
calls up a terribly vengeful feeling. It does in me. 
The Irishmen know what informers are and do not feel 
leniently toward them. The impression that I got 
from Mr. Sullivan's talk was that this man should be 
removed from our ranks in some way or other; that he 
was a menace to the cause, and for the success of the 
objects that we were trying to accomplish — and Mr. 
Sallivan was not alone in the opinion as to the removal 
of men of that description — that is, the removal of 
them from our ranks, not by death, but that we 
should get them out of our organization. There was 
nothing more laudable, consideriog the actions of Le 
Caron, who is now proven to have been Mr. Alexander 
Sullivan's friend according to the testimony now before 
you. This Le Caron, by the way, was on the trial com- 
mittee and was present at the trial. We were all there for 



102 THE CEONIN CASE. 

the purpose of being present at the trial, seeing the 
charges sworn to, etc. I saw Le Caron there. Mr. 
Sullivan, in that trial, acted as prosecutor. Le Caron 
was introduced to me that evening by Mr. Sullivan as 
a man worthy of our confidence and of the highest 
character, and coming from such a source, it being un- 
derstood that Sullivan occupied a high office in the 
order, and considering the confidence with which Sul 
livan was looked up to by the Irish people at that time, 
myself being nothing but a plebian, I could not but 
believe what he said." 

" At that trial were you a friend of Cronin?" 

" I was not, on account of what I had been told. I 
could not be the friend of any man who was pointed 
out as a traitor. • It is repugnant to the instincts of 
humanity, not to speak of those of Irishmen." 

"Did you believe that he was a traitor?" 

" Yes; Mr. Sullivan gave me that information; that 
was his idea. He did not give me any proof, but con- 
sidering his position I could not do otherwise than take 
his ipse dixit for it." 

Hagerty said that he belonged to Camp No. 52, 
formerly Camp No. 117. 

" Is there anything in your obligation and the con- 
stitution of the order that would make you believe that 
you ought to remove a man if the executive ordered 
you to do so?" 

" No, sir." 

"That you ought to take life?" 

" No, sir; on the contrary, I would not do it if the 
order came to me." 



THE CRONIN CASE. 103 

" Do you think that a man with less principle and 
less brains might do so?" 

"I certainly believe now, to my sorrow, that such 
might be the result." 

It remained for the notes of Mrs. Mackey Lomas- 
ney's testimony, offered before the Clan-na-Gael Buffa- 
lo committee, to reveal a condition of affairs in the 
management of the Irish secret societies, so callous, 
cruel, selfish, treacherous and revolting, that a shudder 
passed through the auditors as Coroner Hertz read it, 
with precision and emphasis, from the papers left by 
the murdered man. 

The woman told the story of her husband's separa- 
tion from her, and the trials and tribulations through 
which she had passed, in such a way as would have 
melted the stoniest heart. Captain Lomasney, who, 
according to another witness at the trial, was a pure- 
minded, unselfish and fanatical patriot, was called away 
from the support of his wife, five children and aged 
father, in the early part of 1884. He obeyed the call, 
deeming it a patriotic duty. He left his family as 
wards of the society which directed his action. He was 
sent on a mission of death. He met death. It was 
probably intended he should. The spy, Le Caron, 
knew of his mission two days after he left Chicago, 
and before he was half a day at sea. 

The Scotland Yard detectives knew of the time of 
his arrival, of the false name he would assume, and of 
the men with whom he would associate. Two other 
men accompanied him; one was his brother. It might 
have been dangerous to leave him behind to expose the 



104 THE CBONIN CASE. 

traitors who betrayed his brother to death. The faith- 
ful wife waited for his return, hoping against hope. 
She was on the verge of starvation. She had to sell 
her furniture, her bedding; to mortgage her little stock; 
to beg of her friends. The sheriff turned her out on 
the streets, and when she appealed to the so-called 
Irish patriots who had deprived her of a husband, and 
who denounce evictions in Ireland with passionate ve- 
hemence, they would not listen to her plaints. They 
turned a deaf ear to her appeals. She went to Chica- 
go — to Alexander Sullivan. He knew all the facts 
concerning her husband's disappearance. She appealed 
to him for aid. He gave her legal advice; told her 
to schedule the stock of her store. He got her a re- 
turn ticket to her home in Detroit and advised her not 
to make known her presence in Chicago. She appealed 
to Father Dorney. But that pious priest was too 
busy with his religious duties to listen to her. She 
was turned away from his door. 

But she found good Samaritans in Col. Dick Burke 
and Luke Dillon. They heard of her distress and 
raised money for her among their friends. She was 
able to discard her borrowed garments, to pay the rent 
and her debts, to find food and clothing for her family, 
the aged father, and herself. Even the triangle were 
compelled to disgorge part of their ill-gotten gains for 
her succor and support. This whole story is a terrible 
moral indictment of the notorious triumvirate for treason, 
treachery and infernal indifference to human suffering. 

This same document, left by Dr. Cronin, recites how 
men were sent on dynamite missions to England before 



THE CRONIN CASE. 105 

and since Capt. Mackey Lomasney's departure; that 
they were invariably betrayed, or that every possible 
means was taken to betray them. They were deceived 
as to the means to be supplied for the accomplishment 
of their missions. Their assumed names were given 
to the detectives. Most of them were arrested, all but 
one or two of them are now in jail. Facts known to 
the public corroborate those brought to light by Dr. 
Cronin from the secret circle of the Irish societies. 
The betrayal of the men who went on the missions, 
Dr. Cronin believed, was to cover up the facts of defal- 
cation by those, who, on this side of the ocean, had the 
management of the funds. Only $724, all told, he 
says, was given to four men engaged on a dynamite 
mission of life and death. 

John C. Garrity sw 7 ore that about two years ago Dan 
Coughlin approached him at Ontario and Market streets, 
and asked him if he could not get u Maj." Sampson to 
"do up'' a fellow for him. Garrity asked him how 
much of a "licking" he wanted the man to get. Cough- 
lin said he did not care how much. He suggested tak- 
ing a base-ball bat and breaking his nose or knocking 
oat his teeth. He wanted the man disfigured for life, 
and did not care if he was killed. About two weeks 
later Sampson told him that Coughlin had wanted him 
to "do up" Dr. Cronin. Garrity advised him to have 
nothing to do with it, and told him to go and tell Dr. 
Cronin. 

George Reilly gave his testimony that once, when 
Coughlin and P. O'Sullivan were in company with him. 
the detective had said that "a prominent North Side 



106 THE CRONIN CASE. 

Catholic would have to have his mouth shut up — he was 
talking too much." 

All the facts elicited tended to clearly prove to the 
Coroner's jury that a conspiracy had been formed to 
bring about the murder of Dr. Cronin, and that those 
of the Triangle faction of the Clan-na-Gael were the 
active instigators and participants in his slaughter. 

The following 

VERDICT OF THE CORONER'S JURY 

will therefore be considered a natural consequence. 
The document handed in is as follows: 

We, the undersigned, a jury appointed to make in- 
quiry according to law as to how the body viewed by 
us came to his death, state from the evidence: 

First- — That the body is that of Patrick H. Cronin, 
known as Dr. Cronin. 

Second — That his death was not from natural causes, 
but from violent results. 

Third — That the said P. H. Cronin was decoyed 
from his home on North Clark street the evening of 
May 4, 1889, by some person or persons to the Carlson 
cottage, situated at No. 1872 North Ashland avenue, 
Lake View, Cook County, 111. 

Fourth — That at said cottage the said Cronin was 
murdered by being beaten on his head with some blunt 
instrument in the hands of some person or persons to 
us unknown the night of the said May 4, or between 
May 4 and May 5, 1889. 

Fifth — That the body, after the said murder was 
committed, was placed in a trunk and carried to Edge- 
water on a wagon by several persons, and then placed 



THE CRONIN CASE. 107 

in a catch-basin at the corner of Evanston avenue and 
Fifty-ninth street, Lake View, where it was discovered 
May 22, 1889. 

Sixth — That the evidence shows conclusively to our 
minds that a plot or conspiracy was formed by a num- 
ber of persons for the purpose of murdering said 
Cronin and concealing his body. Said plot or conspir- 
acy was deliberately contrived and cruelly executed. 

Seventh — We have had careful inquiry into the rela- 
tions sustained by said Cronin to other persons while 
alive, to ascertain if he had any enemy or enemies suf- 
ficient to cause his murder. 

Eighth — It is our judgment that no other person or 
persons, except some of those who are or have been 
members of a certain secret society known as the 
United Brotherhood, or " Clan-na-Gael," had any cause 
to be the instigators or executors of such plot and con- 
spiracy to murder the said Cronin. 

Ninth — Many of the witnesses testifying in the case 
have done so with much evident unwillingness, and, as 
we believe, with much mental reservation. 

We find from the evidence that a number of persons 
were connected with this plot and conspiring to murder 
the said Cronin, and that 

Daniel Coughlin, 
Patrick O' Sullivan, 
Alexander Sullivan, and 
Frank Woodruff, alias Black, 

were either the principals, accessories, or have guilty 
knowledge of said plot and conspiracy to murder said 



108 THE CRONIN CASE. 

Cronin and conceal his body, and should be held to 
answer to the grand jury. 

We also believe that other persons were engaged in 
the plot, or have guilty knowledge of it, and should 
be apprehended and held to the grand jury. 

We would further state that this plot or conspiracy 
in its conception and execution is one of the most vile 
and brutal that has ever come to our knowledge, and 
we would recommend that the proper authorities offer 
a large reward for the discovery and conviction of all 
those engaged in it in any way. 

We further state that in our judgment all secret so- 
cieties whose objects are such as the evidence shows 
those of the Clan-na-Gael or United Brotherhood to 
be, are not in harmony with, and are injurious to, Ameri- 
can institutions. 

We hope that future vigor and vigilance by the po- 
lice force will more than compensate for past neglect 
by a portion of the force in this case. 

R. S. Critchell, 
John A. Van Housen, 
Rudolph Seifert, 
H. A. Haugan, 
Justus Killian, 
Victor IT. Sutter. 

the "triangler" in a cell. 

. A mittimus was quickly made out against Alexander 
Sullivan and placed in the hands of Detective Palmer, 
who, with two other officers, arrested Sullivan at his 
home. He was taken directly to the County Jail; 
while he walked once or twice back and forth in the 



THE CRONIN CASF. 109 

inner corridor, bedding was arranged in cell No. 25, 
Murderers' Row. He was escorted thither and the bolts 
were shot against him. 

The night of June 11 the Dictator of the Clan-na- 
Gael Triangle slept in a cell in Murderers' Row, in cus- 
tody, charged with complicity in one of the most das- 
tardly and cold-blooded assassinations ever perpetrated 
in a civilized community. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Chief Triangler Released on Bail — A Special Grand Jury — 
Martin Burke aud Patrick Cooney — They Disappear— Burke 
Located in Manitoba— Events From June 15 to 29 — Positive 
Identification of Burke — Four More Indicted — Beggs, Burke, 
Cooney, and Kunze — Alexander Sullivan's Name Not in the 
Indictment -Bad Records of the Suspects — Burke's Fight 
Against Extradition — Money Lavished to Prevent His Re- 
turn — October 11. 

It was hardly to be supposed that a gentleman pos- 
sessed of the " influence" of Alexander Sullivan would 
long be subjected to the confinement forced upon 
others under the same charge, but of commoner clay. 
Counsel for the Chief Triangler sued out a writ of 
habeas corpus. Judge Tuley, on June 14, released the 
distinguished prisoner on bail of $20,000, and Mr. 
Alexander Sullivan was free from prison bars. His 
sureties were Fernando Jones, Michael W. Kerwin, 
James W. Tuohy and Dennis Corkery. 

State's Attorney Longenecker was prompt in moving 
in his department following the rendering of the ver- 
dict by the Coroner's jury. At his request, Judge 
Shep^rd ordered a special grand jury to be sum- 
moned by Sheriff Matson, and twenty-three men were 
on June 12 impaneled for inquiry into the murder. 

The following named gentlemen comprised 

THE SPECIAL GRAND JURY: 

J. H. Clough, of J. H. Clough & Sons; D. B. 
Dewey, President American Exchange National Bank; 

(110) 



THE CRONIN CASE. Ill 

H. P. Kellogg, of Kellogg, Johnson & Bliss; W. B. 
Forsythe, of Forsythe & Smith; J. McGregor Adams, 
President Adams & Westlake Co. ; Jacob Gross, of 
Felsenthal, Gross & Miller, bankers; Francis B. Pea- 
body, of Peabody, Houghteling & Co., bankers; W. 
H. Beebe, of Beebe & Co., commission merchants; J. 
F. Wollensak, hardware; Isaac Jackson, stenographer; 
H. S. Peck, President Chicago Jewelers' Association; 
W. J. Quan, wholesale grocer; Henry Greenebaum, 
insurance agent; C. Gilbert Wheeler, President 
Wheeler Chemical Works; C. J. Rhode, painter; Geo. 
W. Waite, civil engineer; Henry A. Knott, Knott & 
Lewis, real estate ; Wm . D. Kerf oot, real estate ; D. A. 
Pierce, real estate ; A. G. Lundberg, Lake View ; Louis 
Hasbrouck, Hopkins & Hasbrouck, insurance; John 
O'Neill, ex-County Commissioner; A. P. Johnson, 
President Johnson Chair Co. 

After reading the section of the statute defining the 
duties of grand juries, Judge Shepard charged the 
jury in direct and vigorous language. In closing his 
remarks he said: 

" But the prime matter which will come before you, 
I presume, will be the murder of the late Dr. Cronin. 
This appalling murder demands a most vigorous investi- 
gation. Dr. Cronin, an American citizen, has been 
struck down and killed under circumstances so horribly 
indicative of conspiracy, premeditated design, and 
malice, as to warrant the most searching inquiry. 
Fortunately the power of a grand jury is fully equal 
to the emergency." 

More than two hundred witnesses were examined be- 



112 THE CRONIN CASE. 

fore this jury. The police, under Chief Hubbard, in- 
dustriously followed every clue promising results; 
constant surveillance was kept over every known member 
of Clan-na-Gael Camp No. 20. State's Attorney Longe- 
necker is reported as saying, June 25 : 

" We have established to our own satisfaction that 
there was an inner circle in the notorious Camp No. 
20, and we are satisfied from evidence in our possession 
that a trial of Dr. Cronin was ordered in this inner 
circle some time in February or March." 

Besides those indicted and already in prison, and 
Alexander Sullivan, who walked the streets a free man, 
except for the $20,000 bail bonds, two other men were 
much desired u to have and to hold" by the police and 
state authorities. These were Martin Burke and Pat- 
rick Cooney. Both had been seen very frequently in 
company with Dan Coughlin just prior to the murder. 
They were both members of Camp No. 20, and both 
immediately mysteriously disappeared after the assas- 
sination. 

Through the efforts of Officer Collins, who knew 
Burke, a photograph of the man was procured ; his 
picture was one of many on the plate, but it was at 
once recognized and pointed out by the Carlson family. 
as the man "Frank Williams,'" who had rented the 
cottage. Martin Gavin, with whom Burke had worked 
for months, testified before the grand jury that Burke 
had often cursed Dr. Cronin for a British spy, and 
said that he "ought to be removed." 

This man Burke was a day laborer; for months be- 
fore the murder he had done no work, yet money 



THE CBONIN CASE. 113 

was always plenty with him, and the saloons he fre- 
quented benefited largely from his liberality. From 
Chicago he fled to Joliet; he was nearly penniless on 
his arrival there, but soon received a remittance and 
disappeared. Finally he was arrested in Winnipeg, 
Manitoba, where he gave a false name. He had with 
him a ticket for Europe. 

On June 15, before the grand jury, Thomas G. Win- 
des testified that Daniel Coughlin was a frequent visi- 
tor at the law office of Alexander Sullivan. Frank 
Woodruff made another "confession" amounting to 
nothing. June 16 — Officer Collins left Chicago for 
Winnepeg to identify Burke, under arrest in that city. 
Burke sent a telegram to John F. Ryan, of Hancock, 
Mich., and Ryan refused to receive it. June 17 — -Evi- 
dence accumulated pointing to Burke as the actual 
murderer of Dr. Cronin, and on June 19, the grand 
jury indicted him. Extradition papers were at once 
prepared, Patrick Cooney was closely hunted, but no 
trace of him could be found. June 20 — Martin Burke 
was positively identified by Officer Collins at Winnipeg. 
Little doubt now exists but that Patrick Cooney was the 
"J. B. Simmons" who rented the Clark street flat. On 
June 21, Mortensen 9 the express man, who hauled the 
furniture to the Carlson cottage, identified Burke at 
Winnipeg. June 26 — The State Department* at Wash- 
ington issued to Assistant State's Attorney Baker, 
the necessary papers for extradition of Martin Burke. 
June 27 — John F. Beggs, Senior Guardian of Clan-na- 
Gael Camp No. 20, was arrested for complicity in the 
murder of Dr. Cronin. June 29 — The special grand 



114 THE ORONIN CASE. 

jury entered Judge Shepard's court-room and return- 
ed indictments against 

Daniel Coughlin, Ex-Detective. 

John F. Beggs, Lawyer. 

Patrick O' Sullivan, Ice Dealer. 

Martin Burke, Laborer. 

Patrick Cooney ("The Fox"), Bricklayer. 

Frank Woodruff, alias Black, Thief. 

John Kunze, Laborer. 

The case of Alexander Sullivan was given due con- 
sideration and allowed to rest for action of the next 
grand jury. Coughlin, O'Sullivan and Woodruff were 
already in prison. There were ample reasons, as will 
be shown, for the arrest and indictment of John F. 
Beggs. John Kunze, a young German, was identified 
by Milkman Mertes as the man who drove a buggy 
with a companion in it, up to the Carlson cottage, be- 
tween 8 and 9 o'clock on the night that Dr. Cronin was 
murdered. The companion entered the cottage, an- 
other man took his place in the vehicle and it was 
driven away. Kunze was a companion or "hanger-on" 
of Coughlin's. He was identified as one of the men 
who occupied the Clark street flat while it was tenanted 
by "Simmons." On July 1st he was arrested at a 
house on Cottage Grove avenue, where he was board- 
ing under +he name of Kaiser. 

John F. Beggs, Senior Guardian Clan-na-Gael Camp 
No. 20, was born in Lowell, Mass., in 1852, of the 
proverbial " poor, but honest parents." His appearance 
is remarkably youthful for his age. He measures 5 
feet 8 inches and weighs 149 pounds — with light hair, 



THE CKONIN CASE. J. 15 

sandy mustache, and ruddy, clear complexion. Young 
Beggs attended school in his native town until his 
fourteenth year, when he went to Cleveland, O., and 
soon after began to study law with Attorney A. M. 
Brown. Four years later he was admitted to the bar. 
In 1879, John F. Beggs first appeared in the 
criminal court of Cleveland, O. It was as defendant in 
two serious charges. The first charge he disposed of 
by marrying the girl he had betrayed, the daughter of 
his friend and benefactor. The ceremony was solemn- 
ized in the corridors of the Cleveland jail. On the 
charge of embezzlement, Judge Blandon sentenced 





P. O'STILLIVAN. JOHN F. BEGGS. 

John F. Beggs to the state penitentiary for two years 
and debarred him at the same time from all future 
practice of the law in Ohio. 

After serving his time in the penitentiary, Beggs, in 
1881, went to Chicago. His wife procured a divorce. 
Through the influence of " Trianglers," to whom he 
presented letters by parties in Ohio, he was admitted 
to practice at the bar in Chicago. He also at once 
became identified with, active and prominent in, differ- 
ent Irish societies. He is a fluent talker, a man of some 



116 THE CRONIN CASE. 

education, and did not find it difficult to gain money by 
very " shady" means and still pass for a gentleman. In 
1887 he joined Camp No. 20, then Camp No. 96, and 
on the last Friday in January, 1889, he was elected 
Senior Guardian upon the refusal of Dennis Ward to 
occupy that position for the third term. Beggs mar- 
ried again after his first wife secured her divorce, and 
with his second wife lived, prior to his arrest, at No. 
417 West Madison street. July 1 he was placed in the 
county jail, having been detained since his arrest, on 
June 27, at Warren avenue and Harrison street police 
stations. Beggs was a witness before the Coroner's jury 
and before both the grand juries which considered the 
Cronin case. He was also one of the honorary pall- 
bearers at the funeral of the murdered man. 

Martin Burke, the only native Irishman among 
those indicted, was born in County Mayo, Ireland, in 
1863. Since his complicity in the plot to murder Dr. 
Cronin, Burke has had several aliases. He rented the 
Carlson cottage under the name of Frank Williams. 
In Joliet, after his slaughter-work was done, and in 
other places as he fled, he was known as Martin De- 
laney, and when he appeared in Winnipeg he called 
himself Cooper. In Camp No. 20 Burke's number 
was 332. He had been a member of a revolutionary 
secret society in Ireland, and when he came to this 
country, about 1884, he brought letters of introduction 
from William Malley to Alexander Sullivan. It was 
not long before he was duly initiated into the "inner 
circle" of Camp No. 20, and was a full-fledged, enthusi- 
astic Triangler. Burke resided, before he fled Chicago, 



THE CRONIN CASE. 117 

at No. 37 East Erie street. Immediately upon his ar- 
rest in Winnipeg, the best lawyers of the Canada bar 
were engaged, utterly regardless of expense, to prevent 
the fugitive's extradition. Burke worked little after 
his advent in Chicago, and that little labor was mostly 
in the employ of the city, where "influence" could ob- 
tain him a "job." December 18, 1888, he received his 
last pay from the city of Chicago. The entry on the 
book records that Martin Burke received pay for eleven 
days' work at the rate of 22^ cents an hour, or for the 
110 hours, $24.75. This entry appears on pay-roll 
No. 4,398. 




MARTIN BUKKE. 

Most of Burke's time and money were spent in the 
saloons of the North Side, in the neighborhood of Mar- 
ket street and Chicago avenue. He was a constant fre- 
quenter of Matt Danahy's, Larry G'Tool's and Pat Do- 
lan's saloons, and these all are places of rendezvous 
for Camp 20 Trianglers. 



118 THE CRONIN CASE. 

John P. Kunze. The life and career of "the little 
German" is enshrouded in doubt and mystery, because 
Kunze has told so many extravagant and improbable 
lies about himself, and on every other subject of which 
he has uttered words. "I was born at Eemich, Lux- 
embourg, Germany, in 1866," he says. Probably the 
year of birth is correct, but Chicago Germans from 
the province of Luxembourg indignantly deny that 
Kunze was born there. "I was given to a nurse and 
brought up in a little village near Eemich, my mother 




JOHN KUNZE. 

not wishing to be troubled with the care of a nursing 
babe. My father," Kunze continued, in his broken 
English and poor German, "died in the year of my 
birth, in the German-Austrian war of '66." 

"The wonder is," says a Lake View German, "that 
the little scamp did not tell you that Lis father was 
some great General or Prince. The truth is that 
Kunze' s father died in an asylum in Luxembourg, and 
that the son is illegitimate." To return to the narra- 
tive according to the defendant: "When four years old 
I was adopted by the sister of my nurse, with whom I 
lived until fifteen years of age." Here Kunze grows 



THE CRONIN CASE. 119 

iu definite. He says: "I visited the high school a short 
time, and also a military academy, when I ran away 
and came to America in 1882." Kunze uses poor lan- 
guage and it is evident his education was very meager. 
It is probable that his "visits" to the schools and acad- 
emy were particularly short ones. Immediately upon 
tiis arrival in America he came to Chicago and found 
work in the factory of A. H. Revell & Co. He worked 
for this firm for a year or more, at wood-finishing, and 
then went to Lake View, where his career has been 
checkered indeed. At one time he was under bonds 
of $8,000 for a jewelry swindle. His acquaintance 
with Coughlin began about the middle of 1888, when 
he claimed to have seen the bomb thrown that nearly 
destroyed the Schufeldt distillery. Kunze of late has 
worked now and then, when he had no particular 
swindling scheme on hand. Everybody he came in 
contact with he told about his rich mother in Germany 
and of his aristocratic and wealthy relatives across the 
seas. He u had a large inheritance coming to him, and 
would soon be rich." With such apparent honesty did 
he tell this story that on the strength of his coming 
wealth he wheedled many an unsuspecting German out 
of much coin of the realm. Kunze had two aliases, 
Kogel and Kaiser, both of which he utilized after the 
Cronin murder when he went to live on the South Side. 

A SUMMARY OF MANY DAYS. 

To keep this history within reasonable space and 
bulk it is necessary to be most brief in statement of 
certain events, all of which, though bearing directly 



120 THE CRONIN CASE. 

upon the Cronin case, must be recorded, yet the de- 
tails are foreign to the subject matter of this work and 
would detract from its interest most materially were 
they introduced at length and only at length could they 
be told. 

On July 9 — Charles J. Carlson, who had been sent to 
Winnipeg, identified Martin Burke as the man " Frank 
Williams" who rented his father's cottage. John F. 
Beggs' attorneys asked for the release, on bail, of their 
client. July 10 — Judge Bains, in Winnipeg, decided 
that Burke must be returned to the American authori- 
ties. Judge Tuley, in Chicago, denied Beggs' applica- 
tion for release on bail. July 16 — Beggs applied to 
Judge Horton for a writ of habeas corpus and was 
again denied. July 27 — Car-conductor Dwyer, who 
claimed, with Miss Annie Murphy, to have seen Dr. 
Cronin two hours after he was dead, was discovered in 
Toronto, Canada, where he had fled. July 29 — Two 
witnesses, Sennott and Gleason, of Camp No. 20, told 
State's Attorney Longenecker about the trial commit- 
tee appointed by Beggs. July 30 — Burke's appeal to 
Chief Justice Taylor, was denied and Judge Bains' de- 
cision affirmed. The prisoner must go back to the 
United States. July 31 — Chief of Police Hubbard 
and Lieut. Boss started for Winnipeg to take Martin 
Burke back to Chicago. On August 4 — Burke left 
Winnipeg in charge of the Chicago officers, and on 
August 5 — The fugitive reached Chicago and was 
taken to the county jail. August 9 — Before Judge 
Baker, Martin Burke, when arraigned, pleads not guilty. 
On August 15 — The rival picnics of the Cronin and 



THE CRONIN CASE. 121 

anti-Cronin factions of the Clan-na-Gael were held at 
Cheltenham Beach and Ogden's Grove. Much hot 
talk was indulged in at each against the opposition 
party. August 26 — Tinsman Gus Klahre informs the 
State's Attorney of a tin box soldered at his place for 
Martin Burke, on May 6. — The Cronin case was called 
for trial before Judge McConnell. Motions for separ- 
ate trials made by the attorneys for each of the prison- 
ers. August 29 — Judge McConnell denied the mo- 
tions for separate trials of the suspects, except in the 
case of Woodruff, and on August 30 — The trial began 
in Judge McConnell' s court, with the examination of 
talesmen. On September 9 — Attorneys Forrest and 
Wing, of the defense, broke into the Carlson cottage 
and carried away portions of the blood-stained flooring 
and wall. Officer Robinson tells of his arrest of two 
prowlers at the cottage the night following Cronin's 
murder. September 18 — The first panel of four jurors 
in the case was accepted by both sides and they were 
sworn in. October 8 — The second panel of jurors was 
found and sworn in. October 11 — Still fighting for a 
jury. The court-room is crowded daily. Eight jury- 
men secured in thirty-six days, the net results of Mr. 
Forrest's procrastination for the defense, his innumer- 
able motions and objections, hectorings and bickerings. 
Peremptory challenges of the defense are nearly ex- 
hausted and the state could, if desired, foist upon them 
a very objectionable quartet who might still be within 
the range of the statuory juror. Such, however, was 
evidently not the wish of the prosecution. Edward 
Spelman of Peoria arrived in Chicago, in response to 



122 THE CRONIN CASE. 

the state's subpoena. He is the district officer with 
whom Senior Guardian Beggs corresponded in regard 
to Dr. Oronin's secret trial and punishment. 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

Fateful Documents — The " Treasonable" Clan-na-Gael Circular — 
Dr. Gronin Read It in His Camp — He was Expelled and 
Branded a Traitor — Its Text Proves thatCronin wasnoDyna- 
mitard — The Scathing Report of September 15, 1885, in 
Full — Cronin's Statements and Proofs — Men of Unmindful 
Minds — The Charges of McCahey and Cronin Against the 
Triangle — Other Papers Left by the Victim — Evidences of 
Trianglers' Brutality. 

Dr. Cronin was expelled from Camp 96, now Camp 
20, in the spring of 1885, he being at that time the 
Senior Guardian of the camp. 

The excuse for his expulsion was treason, the charges 
being preferred by Daniel Brown, of Camp 16, a po- 
lice officer. The Doctor was tried by a joint commit- 
tee, consisting of three members from each camp. 
Those from Camp 20 were: Daniel Coughlin, John 
CTMalley, and. Frank Murray, now a resident of Omaha, 
Neb. Those from Camp 16 were: Larry Buckley, John 
Dwyer, and James J. Cunee. With such a committee, 
backed by the very chief of the Triumvirate himself, 
but one verdict could be reached. 

Alexander Sullivan, then a member of Camp 16, 
conducted the prosecution, the committee being ap- 
pointed by his sturdy henchman, Tim Crean, the then 
district member. 

Dr. Cronin's "treason" consisted in making the well- 
grounded statement that Tim Crean was not a regularly 
elected delegate to the Boston Convention of August, 
1884, where the Triangle was elected, and in reading to 

(123) 



124 THE CRONIN CASE. 

his camp a circular issued by Camp 11, of Troy, N. Y., 
protesting against the action of the Boston Convention, 
and against the dynamite policy. 

It effectually disposes of the claims set up by the 
Cronin defendants that Cronin was a dynamiter, and 
that the trouble in the Clan-na-Gael was but a Avar 
between rival factions of dynamitards. 

Troy, N. Y., Jan. 7, 1885.— To the 8. G.'s and J. 
G.'s of our Brother D^s. Brothers: The following re- 
port was submitted to, and adopted by, D. [Camp] No. 
11. It was drawn by a committee consisting of the 
S. G., the J. G., the treasurer, and four others who 
have been S. G.'s and delegates to the conventions of 
the Brotherhood. We respectfully ask you to cause it 
to be read in your respective D.'s, and if you agree 
with us in the sentiments expressed, or any of them, 
to make known your feelings to the proper officers. 
We would be pleased to learn your views on the sub- 
jects discussed. Success is achieved only by united 
action. Fraternally yours, 

D. No. 11. 

THE CIRCULAR. 

The principal points of this circular which have in- 
terest for the public are as follows: 

There was another feature by which it meant to be 
distinguished from its predecessor, the Fenian organi- 
zation, and that was the creation in each of its branches 
of a treasury, to be managed by a board of trustees, 
the funds in which were to remain at home until, in the 
good judgment of the proper officers, and in the pro- 



THE ORONIN CASE. 125 

motion of the policy of the organization, the branches 
should be requested to surrender their moneys. 

This is all changed, and the Fd ucls of the camp were 
all called into the central treasury, controlled by the 
Triangle. 

The Chairman of the Executive Committee, through 
the change in the constitution, is to make his report 
hereafter, not to the convention of the order, but to the 
Committee on Foreign Relations, which may consist of 
but three members. 

In the days when the organization held large con- 
ventions the chairman always made his report to the 
convention, but in these modern times, when the con- 
vention is reduced to a mere handful in numbers, it 
seems to be considered dangerous to the safety or wel- 
fare of the organization that the chairman should dis- 
close the manner in which he has fulfilled his steward- 
ship to more than three members. 

The constitution is so changed that it contains no 
provision for the election either of the executive, the 
secretary, the treasurer, or the district member. We 
learn, however, from the report as to the mode of elec- 
tion of the executive, though nothing whatever is said 
about the other officers. In regard to the former it ap- 
pears that the convention passed a vote of "want of 
confidence" in itself, abdicated its rights, resorted to a 
sort of "blind-man's-bluff" game, and intrusted to the. 
presiding officer and two tellers, the counting of the 
ballots cast for the new officers and sole knowledge as 
to who these officers are. In view of this fact we may 
remark that it shows considerable assurance, at least, 



126 THE OBONIN CASE. 

on the part of the delegates, who tell us in their reports 
that the new executives are worthy of our trust and our 
honor, when they had already voted away all means of 
knowing anything whatever as to the integrity, the 
competency, and the identity of those officers. 

It seems to be made as difficult for a brother to get a 
hearing under this new constitution as it was for a claim- 
ant to get his case through the Circumlocution Office, 
or a litigant a decision in the old Court of Chancery. 

Referring to the policy of financial centralization 
the circular says: 

"A dollar will hardly have touched the fingers of the 
trustees before it must be sent to a central treasury, 
where there are no better safeguards and no more hon- 
esty than could be found surrounding it in every camp. 
What is the cause for this? Have not the camps here- 
tofore responded with alacrity to the calls that have 
been made upon them? All reports show that they 
have. Why then, is there a resort to the policy of 
centralization? The officers of the Troy Camp say: 
More than $4,300 forwarded by us to the central 
treasury in the two years and a half succeeding the 
convention of 1881, besides liberal contributions made 
from its contingent fund to the National League and to 
the special fund, attests the faithfulness of its brothers 
to the principles of the organization and their desire to 
promote its welfare by every means within their power." 

THE DYNAMITE POLICY. 

Then coming to the dynamite policy the circular 
declares : 



THE ORONIN CASE. 127 

"We find that $128,000 lias been paid to the executive, 
which of course means the American members of that 
body, and that is the portion which " favors action." 
What are we to understand by favoring " action?" Is 
it the policy of explosion? Of sending large sums of 
money on failures? Is it the scattering of mortar, 
stone, and brick, the breaking of windows, and the 
maiming of innocent men, women, and children, among 
whom are your own race, traveling on railway trains or 
standing at railway stations? Are these the lofty 
heights to which the organization aspires? If, how- 
ever, this is not the policy, what is it, and on what has 
the money been expended? We think this subject is 
deserving the earnest consideration of every member. 
We must seriously ask ourselves whether we are pre- 
pared to support a policy of this kind, as against the 
better judgment and in defiance of the wishes of the 
men at home. We know that it is claimed in the re- 
port that the concessions that have been made to Ire- 
land are due to that policy; but the men who make 
the claim must have strange notions of the intelligence 
of the men whom they address if they expect them to 
believe it. What concession has been made to Ireland 
since the inauguration of this policy ? What has Ire- 
land received in the shape of remedial legislation that 
was not passed, or that was not within the probabilities, 
before dynamite was set to tearing up railroad ties and 
breaking window panes? Must the labor and achieve- 
ments of the Parliamentary party and the splendid agi- 
tation of the Irish people be robbed of a portion of 
their glory, and the success due to them be attributed 



128 THE CRONIN CASE, 

to this new policy in order that it may obtain any 
consideration at the hands of our people? We know 
as a result of this policy that the Irish residents in 
England are looked upon with hate and suspicion and 
threatened with dismissal from their occupations; that 
English ministers and newspapers are seeking a plausi- 
ble pretext for a renewal of a terrible Crimes act, which 
has ground the faces of the people of Ireland, and that 
they are finding that pretext in a policy that scatters 
death and ruin in the streets of London ; we are told 
that if a certain one of these explosions had proved 
successful, it would have cost the lives of two of the 
most valued members of Parliament, who were stop- 
ping at a hotel ne^r by; we know that the man here 
who starts the balls a-rolling will not feel the horrors 
of the Coercion act as they will be brought home in a 
spirit of vengeance to the people of Ireland. In spite 
of all this, in disregard of the fact that this policy has 
never been submitted to the judgment of the camps, 
singly or in district convention, we are told by the re- 
port that the new governing body has been instructed 
to pursue the course laid down for them by their pre- 
decessors." 

Ireland's best interests. 

The circular concludes as follows: 

" We feel that unwise steps have been taken; that 
injurious methods have been followed; that dissatis- 
faction existed, and the convention has not allayed it; 
that there is an uneasy, restless feeling on the part of 
many good men in the organization that bodes no good 



THE CRONIN CASE. 129 

to its welfare or the objects which it was formed to 
promote. 

" We therefore recommend that the executive be 
urged to call a convention in each district for the pur- 
pose of taking into consideration the changes in the 
new constitution, the policy of our leaders, and our 
relations with the home organization ; that the district 
conventions select two delegates to a general conven- 
tion, at which these matters shall be thoroughly 
discussed, and such measures shall be taken as will be 
in harmony with the traditions and feelings of the 
brotherhood and the best interests of Ireland, and that 
a representative of the home organization be invited to 
attend such convention." 

It was for indorsing these suggestions and sentiments 
that Dr. Cronin was declared guilty of treason and posted 
as a traitor in every Clan-na-Gael camp in the United 
States. 

A SCATHING DOCUMENT. 

A report of the New York Convention, held Sept. 

15, 1885, further served to intensify the antagonism 

and increase the hatred of the Triangle against those 

who were opposed to their villainous proceedings, and 

Dr. Cronin was looked upon as the chief offender and 

the instigator of all the "trouble." 

This report is as follows: 

[The initials used throughout the matter should be read as 
follows: "V. C.," United Brotherhood ; " F. C.," Executive Body ; 
"U. S.," United Sons; "D.," Camps; " I. R. B.." Irish Republi- 
can Brotherhood ; " R. D.," Revolutionary Directorate ; " S. C," 
Supreme Council.] 

Headquarters F. C. of V. C, Sept. 15, 1885.— To 

the Officers and Members of the V. C. and of the U. 



130 THE CBONIN CASE. 

S. — Brothers: In accordance with the call of the 
Committee of Safety a general convention of the V. 
C. was held in New York City, Aug. 3 and 4, for the 
purpose of taking the necessary measures to save the 
organization from the ruin which threatens it. A full 
account of its proceedings will be found in the printed 
report, to which we invite your attention. 

Having been chosen by the convention to fill a posi- 
tion of great difficuty and responsibility in the organi- 
zation during this, the supreme crisis of its existence, 
we feel it to be our duty to lay before you the plain facts of 
the present situation and to ask the assistance of every 
honest man in bringing about a remedy. We make 
this appeal without regard to the side you may have 
taken in the recent and present troubles, knowing full 
well that nine-tenths of the organization are in a state 
of utter ignorance as to the actual facts, and the hon- 
est men have been led to sustain wrong. We make it 
more particularly to those who are supporting and 
yielding blind obedience to men who have turned their 
backs on the I. R. B., thereby ignoring the funda- 
mental principle which is the cause and object of our 
organization. If that support is withdrawn an effect- 
ive remedy can be at once applied. That there is 
trouble you will not now deny, and that it is serious 
enough to menace the existence of a once powerful 
organization, and to threaten the ruin of the hopes 
that have hitherto stimulated our efforts for Ireland, 
every day will make more clear to your under- 
standing. The efforts at concealment made by the 
men who created this trouble, the withholding of ia- 



THE CRONIN CASE. 131 

formation as to the wholesale suspension of D.'s, and 
the mendacious assertions made in recent circulars, 
have all failed of the desired effect; and in every D. in 
the organization to-day there is gloom and discontent- 
ment, and members are fast falling away. No official 
denials, a thousand times repeated, can any longer con- 
ceal this fact. Every member from Maine to California 
can see for himself. The truth is beginning to filter 
through the barriers set up against its entrance to the 
D.'s by desperate men, whose characters depend on its 
suppression. The frantic efforts and reckless state- 
ments of the army of paid organizers sent around, to 
counteract the progress of truth and avert the exposure 
of wrong -doing, are useless and unavailing. Many of 
these are the men under accusation of complicity in 
the fraud, and they now use their money to deceive 
you and prolong the reign of dishonesty. The pre- 
varications, contradictions, and shuffling evasions are 
doing more to establish the truth of the charges against 
which they are vainly struggling than the strongest 
statement made in the interest of right and justice, and 
a spirit is gradually growing up in the organization 
which will produce one of two results — reform and 
punishment of the evil-doers, or disruption of the 
organization and escape of the prisoners. 

WHICH RESULT SHALL IT BE? 

One or other of these results is inevitable. And 
whichever it is, it will be the clear and logical result of 
your action. Your withdrawal from the organization 
in despair or disgust, will no more enable you to shake 



132 THE CRONIN CASE. 

off your responsibility than if you give an active sup- 
port to the criminals. Which result shall it be? The 
decision rests with you. If the men responsible for 
this state of things cannot succeed in stifling all inves- 
tigation into, their misdeeds, they would prefer to 
see the organization smashed. "Dead men tell no tales." 
They know that an honest investigation would over- 
whelm them, and they are fighting for existence, there- 
fore they are determined there shall be none, and every 
D. that demands one is suspended or left without com- 
munication. This conduct is capable of but one explan- 
ation. They cannot stand investigation. The ques- 
tion with them is : Shall their personal reputa- 
tions be destroyed, or the organization be ruined? And 
they have chosen the latter. Men with true instincts, 
and whose records were clean, would scorn to force 
themselves on any organization — to handle its funds and 
direct its policy — while under such accusations as have 
been leveled against the Triangle. Men with the real 
good of Ireland and of the V. C. at heart would refuse 
to hold office at the expense of the unity and efficiency 
of the organization. Looked at from any standpoint 
their conduct is indefensible and unpatriotic. No man 
fit for the duties of the high offices these men hold 
would acquire it by such means, or hold on to it when 
acquired. No men who honestly intended to aid 
the men at home to free Ireland — which is the funda- 
mental principle of the V. C. — would begin their 
official career by deceiving their colleagues in Ireland 
and persisting in carrying on any policy against their 
protest 



THE CRONIN CASE. 133 

Since the disastrous gathering, miscalled a conven- 
tion, which met in Boston twelve months ago, the or- 
ganization has been going from bad to worse. The 
deceit and trickery by which three members of the F. 
C. were enabled to continue themselves in power, and 
so change the whole form and object of the order as 
to make it a convenient instrument for the furtherance 
of personal ambition at the expense of the personal 
cause of Ireland, have continued to play havoc in our 
ranks. The strength and vitality of the national move- 
ment have been shattered. The oldest and strongest 
D.'s are being driven out one by one, and a system of 
repression of free speech, and sham trials, copied from 
the worst features of British tyranny in England, is 
brought into requisition for the purpose of crushing all 
independence of thought and stifling the voice of pat- 
riotism. No honest man in the V. 0. who sees and 
hears what is going on around him, can fail to recog- 
nize that ruin and disintegration must speedily make 
shipwreck of all our hopes, if a strong and vigorous 
remedy be not soon applied. No intelligent man can 
fail to see that every effort of the three men who have 
usurped the governing authority of the V. C, every 
dollar entrusted to them for the advancement of the 
cause, is being devoted to the maintenance of their 
power, and to the work of driving from the organiza- 
tion every man who charges them with wrong-doing, 
or who advocates an investigation of the charges made, 

INVESTIGATION DEMANDED. 

That the aims and objects of the organization, and 
also its money, are being sacrificed to the necessities 



134 THE CRONIN CASE. 

of the war of self-defence waged by three desperate 
men, must be plain to every intelligent man, and it 
must be equally plain that an honest, impartial investi- 
gation of the serious charges made against these men 
would put a speedy end to all this trouble, by either 
convicting them of wrong-doing or their accusers of 
falsehood. In either case the organization would be 
freed .from evil-doers and restored to harmony. Why, 
then, is sucli an investigation refused? The men who 
make the charges are ready to substantiate them and 
take the consequences. The accused men shirk an 
investigation, drive their accusers out of the organiza- 
tion, so that their evidence may not be available, and 
hold on with the grip of desperation to the positions 
they are accused of disgracing. 

Can any organization of intelligent, self-respecting 
men tolerate such a state of affairs ? You who submit 
to the scandalous methods by which it is kept up are 
making yourselves responsible for irreparable injury 
to the cause you are sworn to serve. 

Let us recapitulate the work of the Boston "conven- 
tion," the charges made against the Triangle, the dis- 
ruptive policy they have since pursued, and the remedy 
we propose. We charge that the three members of 
the last F. C, who now constitute the Triangle, are 
solely responsible for the evils of their present situation, 
and that deceit and trickery have characterized their 
action at every step. There is no statement of theirs 
now promulgated that is not made for the purpose of 
misleading the organization in regard to vital facts. 
These facts cover the postponement and change of 



THE CRONIN CASE. 135 

form of the convention, the proceedings of that body, 
the relations with the I. E. B., the disbursement of the 
largest sum of money ever handled by any F. C, the 
authority and responsibility of the E. D., and the policy 
pursued. In short, they embrace every question of 
vital importance to the organization, and to their 
characters as officers and members of the V. C. 

First — The postponement of the convention. — It is 
claimed that these men had nothing to do with it — that 
it was entirely the work of the organization. Here 
are the facts: 

Those who were delegates to the Philadelphia 
National Convention will remember that the subject 
was first mooted there at the request of the three mem- 
bers of the F. C. in question, in a caucus of members 
of the V. C. It was proposed by a member of D. 11, 
and seconded by a member of D. 1, and passed as a 
recommendation to the D.'s, that they favor a change 
in the constitution by which each district should elect 
delegates, in proportion to membership, to the National 
Convention. It was recommended in that form to the 
F. C. for promulgation to the D.'s. When promulgated 
it has undergone a remarkable change, by which each 
district was allowed two delegates, irrespective of mem- 
bership. This would give a district having then less 
than 100 members in good standing the same represen- 
tation as those having 1,500 members. 

The proposition of the F. C. was passed in some 
D.'s with an amendment providing for representation 
according to membership, and a request that the 
amendment be submitted to all D.'s. The reply of the 



136 THE CRONIN CASE. 

F. C. was that there was no time to do so, and yet 
about a year elapsed before the convention was held. 
Thus they secured a postponement of the convention 
under pretense of submitting a constitutional question 
to the D.'s, but so altered the question itself as to de- 
prive large districts of representation in proportion to 
their membership, reducing the number of delegates to 
the convention, thereby making the work of manipula- 
tion easier. Thus, you see, the proposition originated 
with the F. C, was supported by them in caucus, and 
they voted and worked for its passage, and yet they tell 
you they had nothing to do with it; "that it was the 
work of the organization.'" 

This was the first part of the programme by which 
they sought to deceive and hoodwink the orgauization, 
escape a proper accounting of their trusts and secure a 
continuance in office. Let us now examine the second 
part of the programme, or farce, played at Boston. 

THE CONVENTION. 

Notwithstanding the long delay and the evidence of 
elaborate preparation for the convention on the part of 
the F. C, the notice received by the delegates was only 
given at the last moment. Both the first circular after 
the convention and the so-called "report" of its pro- 
ceedings, issued by the Triangle in the name of 
the delegates from each district, contained deliberate 
mis-statements of facts. There was no Committee on 
Credentials, and the word of the secretary of the F. C. 
was the only voucher for the genuineness of the dele- 
gates. There were three persons present who were not 



THE CRONIN CASE- 137 

delegates, and one of the three presided. The compo- 
sition of the committees appointed by the chairman 
after dining with the men who controlled theF. 0., and 
disbursed its funds, left every consideration of decency 
and bon fide investigation out of account. To investi- 
gate the work of these men, a Committee on Foreign 
Relations, consisting of two of them, and a man who 
was entirely dependent on them for information, was 
appointed. The Finance Committee consisted of three 
district members, two of w T hom were the agents of the 
F. C. in the " active policy," and notoriously their parti- 
sans. These committees, sitting jointly, and having 
out of the six members only two who were not previ- 
ously concerned in the work of governing and spending 
the funds, had the coolness to report that " The Finance 
Committee are fully satisfied with the economy and 
prudence with which the expenditures have been made, 
and the Foreign Relations Committee find complete 
exactitude in the financial acknowledgements of the R. 
• D., etc. 1 ' That is, two members of the American part 
of the R. D., who had been receiving and spending in 
the name of that body vast sums of money, of which 
the three home members knew nothing; aided by two 
accommodating district members who had been helping 
them to spend the money, find "complete exactitude" 
in their own accounts. And then, on the plea that 
"lives of faithful and devoted men are in the keeping 
of each of us who have served on either of these com- 
mittees," they appeal to be allowed to keep the knowl- 
edge to themselves, and assure the organization that 
they "individually and collectively agree that it is a 



138 THE CRONIN CA8E. 

misfortune that so many of us should have this knowl- 
edge." They describe their anxiety to " see in the flesh 
the officer in charge of the new policy" a stanch 
confederate of theirs whom they appointed and who 
merely carried out their orders — so that they might, 
forsooth, determine whether economy characterized his 
work and their own. But the crowning hypocrisy of all 
w r as their desire to ascertain if the receipts " acknowl- 
edged by the Home Branch of the B. D. corresponded 
with those reported with the F. C. as having been paid 
out." That is, they wanted to see if money received 
and spent by the American Branch of the B. D., with- 
out the knowledge or consent of the Home Branch, was 
properly accounted for by men who knew nothing 
about them, and whose representative was kept away 
from the convention lest the truth should become 
known. And the men guilty of this shameless deceit 
and hypocrisy are running the United States to-day. 

USE OF FUNDS. 

Third— Eelations with the I. B. B.— Without the 
presence of an envoy from the I. B. B. the convention 
was dependent on the word of men who admitted the 
receipt and expenditure of $266,000, and who are posi- 
tively known to have received a much larger sum, for 
the genuineness of the account. They place $128,000 
to the credit of the B. D., and $75,000 to that of the 
S. 0. of the I. B. B., and they make it impossible for 
an envoy from Ireland to confirm or contradict the 
statement by withholding information from him as to 
the time and place of the convention. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 139 

They aver that they sent the information both by 
cable and mail, and yet there are letters at our dis- 
posal, dating from June to October, from a member of 
the S. C, complaining they could not get the informa- 
tion they sought, and the last one affirming that the 
old address was still good for cable or mail. No letter 
passing between the two organizations ever miscarried 
before that time, and others have reached the same 
address since. The F. 0. were made aware of the 
non-receipt of the information, and if it was intended 
to reach the S. C. it would have been received. 

The true explanation for all this is found in the ad- 
mission in the "report" of the convention in a radical 
difference of opinion between the F. C. and S. C, and 
a determination to dictate to the latter body. There 
is not a shadow of doubt that three members of the 
F. C, who represented the V. C. on the R. D., usurped 
the functions of the whole body, and spent the money 
voted to it by the F. C. without the knowledge of the 
home members. By keeping away the one envoy of 
the L B. B., and auditing their own accounts, and 
speaking in general terms of the B. D. as if they spoke 
for the whole body, they hoped to conceal this fact and 
secure a continuance of the fraud. We now begin to 
see why it became necessary to impose silence by oath 
on the delegates for the first time in the history of the 
conventions of the V. C. The "report" of the convention 
issued by the Triangle, and the tone of circulars since 
issued, show a deliberate purpose to prepare the minds of 
the members of the V. C. for a break with our brothers 
at home. Are such men worthy of your confidence? 



140 THE CRONIN CASE. 

Fourth— The E. D.— The E. D. is a fundamental 
law of the V. C, protected and ratified by internal 
treaty with the I. E. B. It cannot be altered or abol- 
ished without the consent of the I. E. B., and the 
consent of the D.'s. It was adopted by the Philadel- 
phia Convention of the V. C, by a unanimous vote 
in 1876, with the proviso that it should become a law 
only when approved by a two-thirds majority of the 
D.'s. It was submitted to the D.'s, and after being 
discussed by special meetings in every D., was ap- 
proved by much more than the necessary majority. It 
was then submitted to the S. C, and having been 
agreed to by them, the E. D. was elected, and by a 
solemn treaty invested with the supreme authority in 
all revolutionary matters. 

The E. D. could not be abolished without the consent 
of both the contracting parties, nor its functions as- 
sumed by a minority of that body or their confederate 
" in flesh" without the consent of the S. C. or consult- 
ing the D.'s, who created it, and that most accommo- 
dating body, called the Boston Convention, has empow- 
ered the Triangle to elect an E. D. or not, as they see 
fit. That is, to elect the whole body and run a boat of 
their own, as did theFlannagans at the Flood, with the 
assistance of their confederate "in flesh." 

PROTESTING. 

The E. D. provided the means of adjusting the dif- 
ferences between the two organizations, of adopting a 
common policy, of auditing all expenditures, and made 
out of previously disjointed fragments, one united Irish 



THE CRONIN CASE. 141 

revolutionary body throughout the world. Every intelli- 
gent man will now perceive that the assumption of 
power by the V. C. members of the B. D. and their 
officer "in flesh," as well as the action taken at Boston, 
meant broken faith with the I. B. B., means secession, 
disruption, divided councils, and is a direct blow at the 
integrity of the national movement. We cannot believe 
that you will continue to condone this offense on the 
part of the present Triangle, or indorse this breach of 
faith with the I. R. B. 

Fifth — The other work of the convention. The 
mode o| electing the Triangle is inconsistent with 
honest intentions, and gives the organization no 
protection against wrong-doing. The oath of sec- 
recy as to the whole proceedings is absolutely with- 
out justification or valid reason. Its evident inten- 
tion was to cover up the farce enacted by the com- 
mittees. 

No reasonable member of the V. C. wants informa- 
tion involving danger to men within the enemy's reach. 
But every man should know who audits accounts cover- 
ing hundreds of thousands of dollars, and insist on 
having some guarantee that an honest inquiry is made 
into the most important work of the F. C, viz.: Their 
relations with the men at home. The change in the 
oath bodes evil to the cause. What intelligent man 
will bind himself to promote all measures adopted by 
the Triangle, " whether known or unknown? " Are you 
•to follow these men blindly in every enterprise to 
which fancy or ambition leads them, including schemes 
of American politics? 



142 THE CRONIN CASE. 

This, brothers, is the true situation of the Irish 
national movement in America to day. 

The only possible remedy is in a general convention, 
which will pronounce final judgment, and calmly and 
impartially set aside all men who stand in the way of 
union. We have appealed to the Triumvirate for such 
a convention, as have many of you, in vain. 

They will never call it, for the simple reason that they 
dare not. The only possible means of securing it, and 
thereby ending this trouble once for all, is by your 
shaking off the lethargy that has overtaken you, and 
joining hands with us. Your appeals and protests to 
your leaders will be met by hollow pretenses and sub- 
terfuges such as have met all such efforts for the last 
year. 

Waiting for the "regular" convention means sub- 
mitting to another farce, and allowing the work of dis- 
ruption to go on with accelerated speed. Come frankly 
and 'openly to our side, and the settlement of the 
trouble will be in your own hands. We are empow- 
ered to call a convention at any time when we see the 
necessity for it without waiting for the period fixed, 
and it shall be called as soon as you say the word. 
Then let the culprit suffer, whether it be accused or 
accuser, and the unfaithful, incompetent and factious 
step to the rear. 

The cause of truth, justice and patriotism will tri- 
umph, the confidence now broken be restored, the 
gloom now hovering over the organization dispelled, 
and with brightening hopes we will march on to the 
accomplishment of our object — the restoration of 



THE CRONIN. CASE. 143 

national independence under a republican form of gov- 
ernment to otr native land. 

Fraternally yours, 

The F. 0. of the V. C. 

X. F. G. (W. E. F.), Chairman. 

Y. F. C. (X. E. B.), Sec. 

All communications should be addressed to John C. 
Phillips, care of P. O. Box 2,049, New York City. 

As this is a "document" chapter we will introduce 
another paper from Dr. Cronin that was introduced at 
the Coroner's inquest, with a small portion of the 
testimony immediately connected with it. 

Lawrence R. Buckley there testified that he was 
chairman of the committee which tried Dr. Cronin for 
treason. Coughlin, O'Malley aud Murphy (the latter 
being the father of Miss Anna Murphy, who positively 
asserted that she met Dr. Cronin on the night of his 
disappearance), were also on that committee. He 
said that Le Caron was not a member of it; yet the 
latter's name was signed to the findings. Buckley 
recollected that Dr. Cronin was expelled, but his 
memory on certain points was very defective. The 
Coroner asked him: "What did Dr. Cronin say in his 
own defense at the trial? You said he was there." 

"He made a speech after the testimony was all in." 

"What did he say?" 

"I don't remember the language, but it amounted to 
that he thought he was right. If the committee could 
find anything in the constitution of the order that 
made him out guilty, the committee should do its 
duty." 



144 THE CRONIN CASE. 

John F. O'Malley, also of the trial committee, pos- 
sessed a particularly non-retentive memory. He could 
not recollect who the members of the committee were, 
though he finally recalled that Lawrence R. Buckley 
and Daniel Coughlin sat upon it. He could not be 
sure about Murphy and Le Caron, nor could he be 
positive if Officer Brown did or did not prefer the 
charges. Brown might or might not have been present, 
he said. He could not remember how he himself 
voted, how Coughlin voted or if he made any remarks. 
But he did know that the charge against Dr. Cronin 
was treason, and that he was expelled. 

Daniel Brown, policeman, was another individual 
afflicted with shortness of memory, or no memory at 
all. He is the man who preferred the charges on which 
Dr. Cronin, in 1885, was expelled from the order. 
Brown had forgotten entirely the nature of the cir- 
cular which provoked the charges, and could not tell 
who was the prosecutor. 

It came out, however, that Policeman Daniel Brown 
at the time the charges were made, was a member of 
Camp No. 16, now Camp No. 41. He had heard at a 
meeting of Dr. Cronin's camp, a discussion regarding 
a circular from a camp that had been expelled ; that 
circular was read by Dr. Cronin. As this was a viola- 
tion of the rules of the order, he preferred charges 
of treason in his own camp against the Doctor and the 
trial committee was the result. 

Timothy Crean, an agent and partisan of Alexander 
Sullivan, was the man who instigated Brown to such 
action, and according to the testimony of his own pro- 



THE CRONIN CASE. 145 

test, Alexander Sullivan was the prosecutor. It is on 
record that Officer Daniel Brown was recommended for 
a position on the police force by henchmen of Alex- 
ander Sullivan. That he is a close friend of Dan 
Coughlin, is also well known, and it was very evident 
to all who heard testimony that he is a weakling who 
had become the tool of brighter and more powerful 
minds. 

All this leads up to the papers left by the murdered 
man, which were presented in evidence to the Cor- 
oner's jury. They related to matters connected with 
the conduct of affairs by the E. D. (Revolutionary 
Directorate), when the executive (the Triangle), 
consisted of Alexander Sullivan, Michael Boland and 
D. C. Feeley. Among these papers were telegrams 
from, and to parties in New York and Dr. Cronin, 
charges made out against the Triangle, and the proof 
which was to sustain them. The serious accusations 
contained in these, the strong evidence prepared in 
their support, suggest a most powerful motive for 
silencing the man who makes them and destroying 
them if possible. 

The document commences thus: Philadelphia, 
Penn., Jan. 15, 1889.— To the F. C. of the U. S.— 
Dear Sirs and Brothers: The Trial Committee ap- 
pointed at Chicago was unable to elicit all the facts 
connected with the charges placed before it, because 
of the refusal of several of the witnesses to answer 
many of the questions asked, and because of the inabil- 
ity of others to remember events and figures that 
might be supposed to be indelibly impressed upon 

10 



146 THE ORONIN CASE. 

their memories. From the evidence presented I am 
obliged to report: 

WHAT THE CHARGES WERE. 

1. That the family of one who lost his life in the 
service of the order was scandalously and shamefully 
neglected and continued to be neglected for two years 
after their destitute condition was known, and that 
Alexander Sullivan, Michael Boland, and D. C. Feeley 
are responsible and censurable for that neglect. 

2. That Gen. C. H. McCarthy, of St. Paul, Minn., 
was unjustly and deliberately excluded from the Bos- 
ton Convention, and subsequently shamefully prosecuted 
and driven from the order, and that Alexander Sulli- 
van, Michael Boland, and D. C. Feeley are responsible 
and censurable for that series of reprehensible acts. 

3. That a delegate from home organization was 
excluded from the Boston Convention, and that the same 
three defendants are responsible and censurable for 
that exclusion. 

4. That the same defendants issued a deceptive 
report to the Boston Convention, leading the order to 
believe that its affairs had been examined by independ- 
ent committees, and that the order was $13,000 in 
debt; that in fact Alexander Sullivan and Michael Bo- 
land were on the Committee of Foreign Affairs, and the 
treasurer states that there was a balance in the treas- 
ury, and not a debt. 

5. That prior to the Boston Convention one hun- 
dred and eleven thousand ($111,000) dollars were 
expended without any direct or indirect benefit to the 



THE CRONIN CASE, 147 

order, and most of it in a manner that could not in any 
way have benefited the order, and that the three same 
defendants are censurable and responsible for this 
enormous and wasteful expenditure. 

6. That this enormous sum was spent without 
the sanction or knowledge of the home portion of the 
R. D. 

7. That various persons sent abroad were not 
supplied with sufficient funds, and that the agent of 
the Triangle is responsible and censurable for that 
criminal neglect, and not the three defendants. 

8. That Michael Boland and the late secretary of 
the I. R. B. issued fraudulent transfers for the purpose 
of deceiving the order in Philadelphia into believing 
that the union with the home order had not been 
broken. ' 

9. That Michael Boland and D. 0. Feeley, the 
former by acts and the latter by assent, are guilty of 
attempting to pack the Pittsburg Convention, by: First, 
excluding the delegate from the Pacific slope; second, 
excluding Mr. McGlaughlin, delegate from Dakota; 
third, excluding O'Sullivan and Delaney, rightful dele- 
gates from New York; fourth, admitting the Rev. Dr. 
Betts and John J. Maroney on bogus credentials from 
the bogus districts ; fifth, admitting Boland and Malone, 
illegal delegates from New York, sixth, admitting prox- 
ies from Iowa, Brooklyn, and Illinois; seventh, sitting 
as delegates themselves, in direct violation of the con- 
stitution. 

10. That the $87,491 reported to the district con- 
vention as having been spent in active work, was not 



148 THE CRONIN CASE. 

spent for any such work, no such work having been 
done or contemplated during the eleven months within 
which the large amount was drawn from the treasury. 
The active work done between the Boston and other 
district conventions was paid for out of the surplus 
held by the agent of the Triangle at the time of the 
Boston Convention, and not out of the $87,491 drawn 
from the treasury months after such active work had 
ceased. 

11. That Michael Boland, and D. C. Feeley, the 
former by acts and the later by silence, are respon- 
sible for the expenditure of this large amount of money, 
and censurable for deceiving the district convention as 
to the purpose for which it was spent. 

12. That Michael Boland, Alexander Sullivan and 
D. C. Feeley, the former by acts and the two lktter by 
assent, illegally suspended D.'s in January, 1885, and 
that Michael Boland and D. C. Feeley, the former by 
acts and the later by assent, illegally suspended U. 
D.'s in New York in January, 1886. 

Yours respectfully, 

P. McCahey. 
I concur in the within and foregoing report and 
would recommend, in strict fairness to all concerned, 
and in justice to the entire organization, that the evi- 
dence from which were deducted the foregoing, be 
printed by F. C. and sent to each D. O., and by him 
read at the general meeting or district over which he 
presides. 

P. H. Cronin. 
[Signed Jan. 19, 1889.] 



THE CRONIN CASE. 149 

MORE INTERESTING PAPERS. 

There were other papers of interest and import- 
ance, left by Dr. Cronin, produced at the inquest, and 
as they follow exactly in the lead of the documents just 
quoted they are given here. 

The next paper consisted of Dr. Cronin's notes of 
the proceedings and testimony at the trial of the Tri- 
angle at New York and Buffalo. 

The committee met at the Westminster Hotel, New 
York, and adjourned to Aug. 28, 1888, at Buffalo, the 
defendants not being ready, owing to short notice. 

Pursuant to that adjournment the committee met 
at the Genesee House, Buffalo. 

In relation to the testimony given before the trial 
committee the notes said that the first witness testified 
that some time previous to the Buffalo Convention he 
was called on by certain members of the order with 
reference to doing some secret work abroad. This wit- 
ness complained that he was not properly provided with 
funds, having been given only $50, and that after seven 
weeks absence he returned without having done any 
work. This man again went across the water, in com- 
pany with another man, they having $100 apiece, and 
having been told by Donovan that sufficient fund^ 
would be furnished them on the other side by the agent 
in London. They called on the agent, who was found 
to have no funds for any such purpose. The agent had 
only $200, which was barely enough for his expenses. 
This man thought he had been betrayed and moved his 
lodgings several times, claiming that he was watched 
by detectives. The work was delayed six weeks for 



150 THE CRONIN CASE. 

that reason. The witness told the agent that he would 
do the work and on a Saturday he did it. After the 
work was done the witness was so reduced in funds 
that he asked the agent for £4, which the agent gave 
him out of the £16 he had left. 

The witness stated to the committee that he received 
$500 in all for four persons, and of this the agent had 
$200. They engaged altogether in three "enterprises." 
They always bade good-by to each other before each 
" enterprise." One of the men had to sell his clothes 
in order to get back. On his return all he got was $7. 
When this man told Gen. Kirwin that he ought to send 
some help to William Lomasney, Kirwin replied that 
he ought to be expelled. A few months later this man 
(the witness) met a woman from Detroit who told him 
that Capt. Lomasney's wife was in trouble. The sum 
of $1,025 was raised for her by private subscription and 
sent to Detroit. Those who went to hand the money to 
her found her condition much worse even than it had 
been represented. Dr. Gallagher's people were also 
found in want. Delaney had recovered the money that 
was on Dr. Gallagher's person, but it was only a little 
sum, most of it having been used in his defense. There 
was $100 raised in New York and sent to Mrs. Galla- 
gher. The witness suggested to the executive that the 
men on trial on the other side of the Atlantic should be 
defended, but Gen. Kirwin said that friendless men 
were better off in such cases. 

Under the head, " Deceiving the I. R. B.," it was 
stated that the witness produced five papers purporting 
to be transfers, made out in accordance with the rules 



THE ORONIN CASE. 151 

of the order, by the executive, but which were found to 
be bogus. 

The next heading was " Pittsburg Convention." It 
was stated that D. O'Sullivan and J. J. Delaney repre- 
sented as delegates to the convention eleven camps; 
that in order to keep these two men out of the conven- 
tion and prevent them from telling what they knew, the 
entire eleven camps were suspended. There were two 
delegates from Chicago, Tim Crean and Florence Sul- 
livan, the former being a proxy for Alex. Sullivan and 
the latter for Father M. J. Dorney. The statement was 
made that Sullivan had been selected by cablegram by 
a branch in Australia to represent it in the convention. 
The secretary being questioned, stated that the organi- 
zation in Australia hard never sent any money and that 
it was only about to organize. It was shown that such 
a cablegram would have to pass through London, and 
that it was therefore not probable that it would reach 
Chicago. 

Another witness stated that he received $500 from 
Boland with instruction to use it according to his 
judgment in England. He asked Boland if he was 
to do any " active work" and Boland said he could use 
it as he wished. Then followed some statements about 
caucuses and intrigues for the purpose of capturing the 
offices of the National Land League, in which the witness 
refused to engage, although he was offered the pre- 
sidency of the league, in place of Patrick Egan, who 
was to go out. The witness stated that he was led to 
believe that the organization intended to oppose 
Parnell on account of his recognition of others. The 



152 THE CR0NIN CASE. 

reason why Alexander Sullivan and Father Dorney sent 
proxies was stated to be that Dorney was having trouble 
with the Bishop and that Sullivan was shadowed by 
British detectives. A charge was made that Maroney's 
debts were paid by the executive. In August, 1882, 
Maroney was a porter in a grocery store. Three years 
after he was representing two counties and was him- 
self dealing in groceries. He had $400 from the 
Executive Committee, which was advanced until he had 
earned enough to pay it back. 

Another witness testified in detail as to the condition 
of Mrs. Lomasney. The witness who testified stated 
that he was closer to Lomasney than a brother, and 
offered him his hand the day he told him of his pro- 
ject. Lomasney had little help. Mrs. Lomasney had 
to take care of four children and an aged father. Her 
condition showed a most outrageous case of neglect. 
Fleming's brother died in the poor-house. 

DENYING RESPONSIBILITY. 

The witness spoke to Carroll and Mulraney about 
Mrs. Lomasney's condition. They professed complete 
ignorance and told him to see Boland. Boland denied 
all responsibility and said he would have nothing to do 
with it. Personally, he claimed that she had received 
much money. The witness said she had not. Boland 
was non-committal, but his admission that she had 
received money had made him responsible. Witness 
said to him: " If you respect the memory of the dead, 
and the widow and the orphans, you ought to do your 
duty by them." The witness visited Mrs. Lomasney 



THE CRONIN CASE. 153 

and found her destitute of clothing and food, and with 
nothing but her poverty and pride. In 1887, the 
Sheriff put Mrs. Lomasney out in the street. No 
home was ever bought for her, although much money 
was collected. An investigation into her habits was 
made, and it was found that she was economically in- 
clined. 

The paper concluded with the statement of another 
witness who had been sent to England, that he had no 
shoes and sold his clothes and his trunk in order to get 
home to America. 



CHAPTEE IX. 

Alexander Sullivan— Born on British Soil and a British Subject — 
In Business in Detroit — Charged with Arson — Political Work, 
Offices and Quarrels — Marriage — Murders Principal Hanford 
— Twice Tried for Murder — Acquitted — Was the Jury Bribed? 
— Practices Law in Chicago — To the Front in Irish Secret 
Societies — He Flourishes Financially— Becomes a " Plunger" 
in Stocks — " Lost and Squandered $95,000 " — Dr. Cronin and 
His Investigations — Luke Dillon Tells What He Knows — 
Alexander Sullivan's Protest Against, and Vituperation of, 
Dr. Cronin. • 

Alexander Sullivan was born in Amherstburg, Onta- 
rio, Canada. His father was, at the time, in the Eng- 
lish military service, and is now a pensioner of Great 
Britain. 

When yet a youth, Alexander Sullivan went to 
Detroit, Mich., and found employment in the boot and 
shoe store of A. J. Bowe. Subsequently he entered 
upon the same trade for himself, in that city, his store 
being in the Brester Block, on Michigan avenue. His 
business career was not a success, and was closed by 
the destruction of his entire establishment by fire, 
evidently the work of an incendiary. It was charged 
by his enemies that he set fire to the place himself; 
but the investigation failed to fasten the guilt upon 
him. 

Previous to this time he had gained prominence as an 
advocate of trades unions and labor movements. In 
the political campaign of 1868 he took the stump for 
the republican candidates. He is a polished and 
forcible speaker, and did excellent service. His political 

(154) 



THE CRONIN CASE. 155 

course greatly offended his Irish brethren, nearly all 
of whom were democrats, and they denounced him 
vigorously. Soon after the installation of President 
Grant he was appointed collector of internal revenue, 
at Santa Fe, N. M., but the appointment was never 
confirmed by the Senate. Subsequently, however, he 
he was made secretary of the Territory. He estab- 
lished a newspaper at Santa Fe, to advocate republi- 
canism, and published it for some time. He became 
embroiled in several quarrels in the Territory, and was 
once shot at by Gen. Heath. He was next heard of 
in Chicago, where he was connected, in a reportorial 
capacity, with the Inter -Ocean and Times. His inter- 
est and activity in politics was as great as ever, and in 
1873 he was made secretary of the board of public 
works, of Chicago, and held that position for some time. 

About 1874 he was married to Miss Margaret 
Buchanan, who for a time occupied a prominent posi- 
tion as a teacher in the public schools of Chicago, be- 
ing at one time principal of the Houghton School. 

The evening of August 7, 1876, Alexander Sullivan 
shot and killed Francis Hanford, principal of the North 
Division High School in that city. The record is, 
that at a meeting of the city council on the evening 
mentioned, when the report of the committee on 
schools was submitted, it was accompanied by two let- 
ters, written by Mr. Hanford; in one of these he wrote: 
" The instigator and engineer-in-chief of all the devil- 
try connected with the legislation of the board of edu- 
cation is Mrs. Sullivan, wife of the secretary of the 
board of public works." 



156 THE CRONIN CASE. 

The letters further accused Mrs. Sullivan of bring- 
ing editorial and Catholic influences to bear upon the 
board of education, and of conspiring with Mayor Col- 
vin and others to have J. L. Pickard, superintendent of 
public schools, superseded by Duane Doty. The latter 
and Mrs. Sullivan, it was further stated, were a " mu- 
tual admiration society." 

Sullivan was present in the council chamber when 
these reflections upon his wife were read. He went 
home, and after talking with Mrs. Sullivan, took her 
and a younger brother in a carriage to Mr. Hanford' s 
house, and, meeting Hanford on the sidewalk in front 
of his home, demanded a retraction of what he had 
written. Hanford refused to retract a word ; Sullivan 
struck him and a general confusion ensued, during 
which, it was alleged, Hanford pushed Mrs. Sullivan, 
and thereupon Sullivan shot him. Hanford died in 
thirty minutes. Sullivan was indicted for murder and 
twice tried. The first trial began October 17 and 
ended October 26, 1876. The jury disagreed. The 
second trial began February 27 and ended March 10, 
1877. Sullivan was acquitted. 

At that time there was some talk of indicting the 
jury, a strong belief prevailing that their verdict had 
been bought. Nothing came of this, however. Since 
his acquittal Alexander Sullivan practiced law in Chi- 
cago and gathered unto himself that influence with 
Irish secret societies, notably the Clan-na-Gael, which 
resulted in his election as president of the new Land 
League, which consolidated the Irish-American societies 
of all kinds. Sullivan's connection with the Clan-na- 



THE ORONIN CASE. 



157 



Gael and the charges against him of having diverted 
the funds of the order io bis own u e, were long a mat- 
ter of frequent discussions among certain circles in the 
organization. 

When the Trader's Bank of Chicago failed, then Dr. 
Cronin learned that in 1882, Alexander Sullivan placed 
the proceeds of a draft for $90,000 in that bank, drawn 
by the Metropolitan bank of New York, in favor of 




ALEXANDER SULLIVAN. 

Young, Windes & Co. ; and another draft, bearing the 
same names, for $1,000. That money belonged to the 
fund of the Irish secret society. Sullivan operated 
heavily in stocks in 1882 through the house of J. T. 
Lester & Co., Chicago. 

The Daily News of Chicago, on the 10th of June, 
says: "In 1882, when Alexander Sullivan was 'plung- 



158 THE CBONIN CASE. 

ing' in railroad stocks and bonds at the rate of $30,000 
a 'plunge,'' Mr. Egan was a resident of Paris, France, 
having sought that gay capital as an exile. It was after 
Alexander Sullivan's visit to Mr. Egan at Paris that 
the former began his operations in stocks and bonds 
through John T. Lester & Co. It is claimed that on 
his visit to Paris Mr. Sullivan received $100,000 or 
more of Irish funds which he carried back to America. 
This has been denied. Mr. Trude, however, says that 
after Mr. Sullivan returned from France he received 
from Mr. Egan a trust fund of $100,000, which he de- 
posited in the Trader's Bank and subsequently drew 
out on checks made payable to J. T. Lester & Co." 

It appears that Sullivan closed his account with these 
brokers June 20, 1883, having a balance in his favor of 
$95,000. What became of this money was a problem 
thatDr. Cronin endeavored to solve. Sullivan was still 
speculating in July, 1887. After the firm of Morris 
Rosenfeld & Co. was formed he operated through it, and 
when that firm failed, his profits, or what was left of 
them, were swept away. 

In the Chicago Tribune of June 13, 1889, is the fol- 
lowing: " The gap between Alexander Sullivan's specu- 
lations with J. T. Lester & Co. in 1882, and Morris 
Eosenfield & Co. in 1887, has at last been bridged. 
The prosecution now has absolute evidence that Mr. 
Sullivan lost and squandered the $95,000 returned to 
him by the firm." 

This money was Irish funds. Dr. Cronin hunted 
all this out. He knew that no accounting had been 
rendered, nor could one be forced, or in any way ob- 



THE ORONIN CASE, 159 

tained, hence Cronin's charges at the Buffalo Conven- 
tion of the Cian-na-Gael ; which charges were not 
disproved, but a majority of the committee were 
partisans of Alexander Sullivan, and they, without 
attempting thorough investigation, reported in his 
favor. 

The rebuff only spurred Dr. Cronin to greater exer- 
tions. He industriously accumulated evidence, wrote 
scathing editorials for the Celto- American, and he was 
prepared to present, at the convention in July, over- 
whelming evidence against Alexander Sullivan. It 
was fear of this exposure, added to the hate already 
existing against him, that gave good reason for 
"quieting" him. 

Luke Dillon, the Irish Nationalist, whose name is 
universally known, was a strong witness before the 
Coroner's jury. 

He stated his business was that of a retail shoe dealer 
in Philadelphia. 

He admitted that he is a member of the United 
Brotherhood. 

"Have you, as a member of that society, taken an 
obligation?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"Is there anything in that obligation that would 
conflict with the duty which you owe to your country, 
the United States?" 

"There is nothing in that obligation which would 
conflict with my duty as a citizen of the United States, 
except the occasion might arise when it would be 
necessary for myself and other Irishmen, who had 



160 THE CRONIN CAbE. 

taken this obligation, to violate the neutrality laws. 
Those are the only laws which we could violate." 

"Can you state to the jury the objects of your 
organization?" 

"The object of the organization is to assist a like 
organization in Ireland and England to establish in 
Ireland an Irish Republic, and also to bring about 
fraternal feeling among Irishmen in this country and 
assist in the elevation of our race." 

"Did you know Dr. P. H. Cronin?" 

" I knew him very well — intimately. He was asso- 
ciated with me on the executive of the order when a 
division existed. I used to communicate with him 
regularly, perhaps every week or two. I knew him to 
be intensely patriotic and very useful in the Irish 
movement." 

"Have you ever had any conversation with Dr. 
Cronin touching his being in any danger?" 

" Yes, sir, we have spoken of it. He has told me 
that the personal ambition of Alexander Sullivan to 
rule both in Irish and American politics in this city 
would be the cause of his death, for he felt the man 
had no more blood than a fish, and would not hesitate 
to take his life. I thought at the time he had Alex- 
ander Sullivan on the brain, and that there was not 
the slightest likelihood of any man hurting him." 

"Has anything happened since that time, Mr. 
Dillon, to change your mind in regard to this matter?" 

"Yes, sir. At the trial of Sullivan, Boland and 
Feeley, at which I was present, and of which Dr. 
Cronin was one of the jurors, Alexander Sullivan 



THE CRONIN CASE. 161 

protested against Cronin sitting in judgment upon him, 
because of the intense enmity existing between the 
two men, himself and Cronin, and his language to 
Cronin at that time was very abusive, and I felt that 
the man wno would speak so disparagingly of another 
was capable of going to further extremes. Another 
reason why I have changed my mind and why I believe 
that Alexander Sullivan is responsible for this murder, 
if not the principal, is that Dr. Cronin' s verdict against 
him and others was "Guilty." The trial to which I 
am referring took place partly in Buffalo and partly in 
New York, and I had ample time to study the feelings 
exhibited there, and I unhesitatingly say that Sullivan 
showed great prejudice against him, and since then I 
have received as a member of the executive a request 
that Alexander Sullivan be permitted to send out a 
protest along with the trial report and which would be 
sent to the different clubs. As a member of that 
executive body I objected to the sending out of a 
circular by a man who was not a member of the order, 
as he had resigned some four years previous, but I 
was evidently overruled, for such a document has been 
sent out, and with the permission of the Coroner and 
of the jury here I will read it." 

" When was that trial in Buffalo held?" 

" About a year ago." 

"Who were tried?" 

" Alexander Sullivan, Dennis C. Feeley, of Rochester, 

and Colonel Michael Boland, now of Kansas City. 

There were two sets of charges, one by John Devoy, 

charging them with spending $128,000 without per- 
il 



162 THE CRONIN CASE. 

mission of the home organization, notwithstanding 
the agreement with that organization not to spend any 
money without their sanction. My charges were that 
they had spent $87,000, and had failed to account for 
it during the years, I think, from 1885 to 1887." 

"Did the trial proceed?" 

" Yes, sir, notwithstanding the objections of Mr. 
Sullivan, Dr. Cronin acted as a member of that com- 
mittee in the capacity of a juror." 

"You suggested just now, Mr. Dillon, that you 
would read a document. Is that a report of this trial 
committee?" 

"It is Alexander Sullivan's protest against Dr. 
Cronin, which was issued to the order and is now sent 
to all the camps in the country, stating that Dr. Cronin 
was a British spy, and other like matter." 

"Was that protest attached to that report of the 
trial?" 

" It was. This protest, against the issuing of which 
I protested, on the ground that Alexander Sullivan was 
not a member of the order, has only been issued to the 
clubs during the past week, and since the death of Dr. 
Cronin." 

"Is that protest made a part of that report of the 
trial?" 

" Yes, sir, it is made a part of the report." 

THE PROTEST AS READ BY MR. DILLON: 

New York, Sept. 15, 1888. P. A. V Boyle, Secretary. 
Dear Sir: — At the opening of the investigation in 
Buffalo, I protested against the presence of P. H. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 163 

Cronin as a member of the committee to investigate 
any charges against me. The committee decided that 
it had no power to act in the matter, but, through the 
chairman, said that I could file my protest in writing. 
Therefore I formally and in writing renew said protest. 
My grounds are: 

1. He is a personal enemy. 

2. He has expressed opinions in this case. 

3. He is a perjurer and a scoundrel unfit to be 
placed on any jury. 

To the first objection I cite the men of the U. B. 
organization in Chicago from which he was expelled in 
a case where I conducted the prosecution. There is 
no question in Chicago of his personal hostility. 
Before the National League Convention of 1886 his 
was one of the signatures to a circular assailing me, 
and he was a regular attendant at meetings hostile to 
me. This is so notorious to men from all parts of the 
country that it is not necessary to enlarge upon it. 
But if substantiation is required it can be furnished 
to an overwhelming degree- 

In support of the second objection it is only 
necessary to recite the now notorious fact that ■ Cronin 
was a member of the executive body of the U. B. 
Hence he was one of those who circulated charges 
against my former associates and myself. He, there- 
fore, not only expressed his opinions, but in his official 
capacity caused these opinions to be published and 
circulated. Your committee is chosen from two bodies, 
whose members differed on many subjects, but who all 
agreed, or, at least, professed to agree, in denouncing 



164 THE CRONIN CASE. 

unfair trials, packed juries and prejudiced jurors in 
Ireland. Yet I am asked, after a period of four years 
has elapsed since I was a member of the organization, 
to come to trial before a committee chosen in my 
absence, at a place where I was given no opportunity 
to be heard, although I was within a few hundred feet 
of that place; and while you ask the world to believe 
that you want fair trials on this side of the Atlantic, 
you ask me to accept as a juror a creature who would 
be excluded in any civil court from a jury in a trial of 
a case in which I had an interest, however trivial. 

BETWEEN TWO EVILS. 

I am told that it has been declared that if I did not 
appear before this committee I would be denounced as 
one unable to defend himself against an accusation 
filed, so I was left the alternative of being tried before 
a jury with at least one prejudiced member, or of being 
abused or villified for my non-appearance. And this, 
it appears, is what the men who selected Cronin 
were led to believe was fairness. They should never 
again be so indecently inconsistent as to criticise the 
composition of juries or courts chosen to try men in 
Englaiid or Ireland. Had he as much decency as an 
ordinary dog, he would not sit in a case in which I 
was interested. 

As to the third objection to Cronin, I charge that 
the brand of perjury is so burnt into the scoundrel's 
brow, that all the waters of the earth would not remove 
the brand. He was a delegate to the district con- 
vention held in Chicago, March 23, 1884, that being 
the first one held in this district after the constitution 



THE CRONIN CASE. 165 

was so amended as to provide for the election of two 
delegates from each district. Two delegates were 
elected at the same session; one being chosen im- 
mediately after the other; yet Cronin, after officially 
reporting to his D. (camp) that two delegates were 
elected, circulated a report that only one was elected, 
and added that he would not be permitted to speak nor 
present any suggestions from his D. Every other 
delegate at the convention has been sworn, and every 
one, including those who were with Cronin in the U. 
D. organization, testified that the two delegates were 
chosen ; that Cronin was present when they were 
chosen; that every delegate not only could speak as he 
pleased, but was actually called upon to speak; and 
that every delegate, including Cronin, did speak. 

Cronin was expelled a convicted liar, who added per- 
jury to his slander. 

CRONIN'S RECORD PER SULLIVAN. 

I have further investigated his record, and find that 
in civil matters outside of this organization he is also 
a perjurer The record obtained from Ireland by 
William J. Fitzgerald, a solicitor at Mallow, recom- 
mended to me by Mr. Healy, shows that Cronin was 
baptized at Buttevant, April 20, 1844. Cronin has 
sworn that he lived at St. Catherines, Canada, until after 
the assassination of President Lincoln, April 14, 1865. 
Capt. McDonald, of No. 2 Company, Nineteenth Batal- 
lion of the Canadian Militia, of which this P. H. Cro- 
nin was a member, says that at its formation in 1862 
or 1863 he had P. H. Cronin in his company, or 



166 THE CRONIN CASE. 

shortly after its formation. He was known as the 
" Singer Croniu." At the time of joining he took the 
oath of allegiance as follows: "I swear I will bear 
true and faithful allegiance to Her Majesty, her heirs, 
and successors." About 1863 positive orders were 
sent from the Government that every man had to take 
the oath of allegiance, and that there was none under 
his command who did not take it. The official records 
show that Cronin's father, John V. Cronin, was a 
British subject, and voted in Canada up to the time of 
his death, so that P. H. Cronin until 1865 or 1866, 
when he left Canada, was a British subject, and if, as 
he claims, his father was naturalized in the United 
States before going to Canada, he voluntarily aban- 
doned his American citizenship, and resumed his posi- 
tion as a British subject, just as P. H. Cronin volun- 
tarily swore allegiance to Her British Majesty, and be- 
came one of her loyal British militiamen. 

Yet this creature swore in his name as a legal voter 
in St. Louis, Mo., and voted in that city, as he con- 
fessed under oath. After coming to Chicago and re- 
siding here one year, he sneaked down to Macoupin 
County, 111., doubtless being afraid of attracting atten- 
tion in Chicago, and swore that he "arrived in the 
United States a minor, under the age of twenty-one 
years, that he resided in the United States three years 
preceding his arrival at the age of twenty-one years." 
He professed to have believed that he was born in 
1856, and not in 1844. But even if that was true, he 
was over nineteen years old when he left Canada, be- 
cause he has sworn that he was yet in Canada when 



THE CRONIN CASE. 167 

President Lincoln was assassinated, and that he came 
to the United States in 1865 or 1866; yet he swore he 
resided in the United States three years preceding his 
arrival at the age of twenty-one years, and thus secured 
his papers on this minor petition falsely sworn to. 

This much of P. H. Cronin's character I submit, 
should be considered in connection with any report his 
malice and prejudice may dictate. 

I have not made any formal protest against the con- 
tinuance of Dr. McCahey's presence on the committee, 
but it is well known that he has been active in pub- 
lishing documents and interviews hostile to me, and it 
is at least strange that one who has been so engaged 
should be willing to serve on such a committee. 
Respectfully, 

Alexander Sullivan. 

The witness continued: 

" That has only been issued within two weeks and 
might have been in the press longer." 

"Has that protest, Mr. Dillon, been in the hands of 
your order or some officer of your order before Cronin's 
murder?" 

" Yes, sir, for about four months, I should judge." 

" That protest is dated when?" 

"Sept. 15, 1888." 

u How do you know that this protest is the protest 
of Alexander Sullivan ? " 

" Because I have received official notification from 
the secretary that Mr. Alexander Sullivan desired to 
send such a protest out. I objected to its being sent 
out, because he is not a member of the organization, 



168 THE CRONIN CASE. 

and I knew that the protest would attack the character 
of a decent man." 

" What right had you to object to its being sent 
out?" 

" I had every right, as a member of the executive." 

" Are you at present a member of the executive? " 

"I am." 

"How many members are there? " 

"Nine." 

The witness told of how the widow of one of the 
men who had perished "in active service across the 
water" had been on the verge of starvation until he 
(Dillon) raised $1,000 for her relief. The Triangle, 
which had spent in two years $128,000, for which there 
was not a voucher, refused to give this woman any 
aid. 

And then came the story about the $97,500 given 
to Dr. Gallagher, now in prison in England. The 
Triangle caused the impression to spread in the order 
that Gallagher got that amount, but as a matter of fact 
the Triangle did not pay Dr. Gallagher one cent. "I 
know that," said Dillon, with emphasis. 

The Triangle must, therefore, have misappropriated 
the whole sum of $128,000. 

And here again the Coroner put in his oar. He 
asked Dillon whether be believed that men had been 
sent to England on a dangerous mission and betrayed. 
Dillon believed this to be the case. 

"Who could have betrayed them?" 

"Only members of the executive or some one in 
their confidence," replied Dillon, 



THE CRONIN CASE. 169 

" And who were the members of the executive at the 
time of betrayal ? " 

" Sullivan, Bolancl and Feeley." 

The Coroner put some other questions which elicited 
somewhat unexpected replies. " Did Mr Dillon hear 
whether the Triangle received $100,000 from Patrick 
Egan about June 1, 1882?" Mr. Dillon replied in the 
negative. 

" At that time," said Mr. Dillon, "the executive had 
more than $100,000, or ought to have had more than 
$100,000 of the funds of the organization." Then 
there w T as some more questioning about the amount of 
money the Triangle controlled. "It was about $350,- 
000," said Mr. Dillon. 

Then followed some questions about Sullivan's resig- 
nation in 1885. The witness said it was a mere pre- 
tense. Dillon saw Sullivan's hand-writing in the 
official documents of the order after the date of his 
resignation — for a year after. 

He was asked: "Have you any other information, 
Mr. Dillon, which would be proper to give this jury, 
sitting to inquire into the death of Dr. Cronin, which 
would assist them in arriving at the cause of his 
death?" 

" Well, I believe his death is the result of the abuse 
heaped upon him by the friends of Alexander Sulli- 
van. He has been denominated a spy and a traitor, 
perjurer, and, in fact, all the invectives have been piled 
upon him that could be heaped upon the head of any 
man by the friends of Sullivan, all because of Cronin's 
enmity to Sullivan." 



170 THE CRONIN CASE. 

Mr. Dillon said it was utterly impossible that an 
order should be issued by the executive for the "re- 
moval" of a member. It had no power to violate any 
law of this country. He did not believe that a majority 
of the committee could come together and issue such 
an order without his knowledge; neither could any of 
the subordinate camps issue such an order. If they 
did it would be in violation of their oath and of the 
constitution of the order. 

Being asked to give some details about this alleged 
misappropriation of funds which Dr. Cronin and him- 
self talked about, he gave this explanation: 

" John Devoy charged that there was $300,000 and 
more in the hands of the Triangle, and that $128,000 
was spent in violation of the constitution; that there 
were no vouchers furnished for it, and that all the pa- 
pers were burned at the convention, either in Boston 
or Chicago. This money was supposed to have been 
spent in using violent measures against England, or 
carrying on what they termed an c active policy.' Pre- 
vious to the resignation of Alexander Sullivan all docu- 
ments bearing on expenditures for this purpose were 
ordered burnt by the convention, which was run by 
Sullivan and his friends. John Devoy was present at 
this convention and gave his testimony before the trial 
committee. The amount mentioned by John Devoy as 
having been misappropriated did not include $100,000, 
which was said to have been obtained from Patrick 
Egan. As to this sum Mr. Dillon could not give any 
information. The funds of the order were supposed 
to be ased in case of England getting involved in diffi- 



THE CRONIN CASE. 171 

culty, in assisting Ireland to liberate herself. It was 
also supposed that if a man lost his life in the service 
of the organization his family would be assisted. 
There was nothing in the constitution that required 
men to sacrifice their lives or directing the use of the 
funds to support their families, but it was believed that 
common decency and Christianity would compel the 
executive body to do so." 



CHAPTEK X. 

Another Vile Plot Exposed— Attempt to Bribe Jurors — Court 
Bailiffs Implicated — The Guilty Confess— Who and What 
They Are — Were the. Defense Lawyers In It ? — Arrest of the 
Briber's Chief Agent— Promises, Not Pay, for Triangler's Tools 
—That $8,000 Given Mr. Forrest Causes Trouble. 

Friday morning, Oct. 11, was consumed in the weary 
examination, excusing and rejection of veniremen. At 
the closing of the afternoon session it quickly became 
evident that there was "something in the wind." 

At 2 o'clock, the time for opening the session, the 
counsel for the defense were at their posts, the prison- 
ers in their seats, and Judge McConnell in court, 
though he did not take his place on the bench. The 
state's attorney and every lawyer engaged in the prose- 
cution were absent. 

Thirty minutes later the judge sent his bailiff to the 
state's attorney's office to inform him that the court was 
waiting. The message he brought back caused his 
Honor to at once repair to the chief prosecutor's rooms. 
In about fifteen minutes both officials entered the court 
room. The judge was at once seated on the bench, and 
the bailiffs rapped for order. Then, on motion of the 
state's attorney, the court was adjourned till one o'clock 
next day, in order that the investigation being made by 
the prosecution might be continued. 

Saturday, Oct. 12, publicity was given to the result 
of the investigation instituted the day before, by the 
public prosecutor and his assistants, and which had in- 
terrupted the proceedings of the court in the afternoon, 

(172) 



THE CKONIN CASE. 173 

The activity, mystery, and intense excitement pervad- 
ing the atmosphere in and about the state's attorney's 
office occasioned endless wild, and some most ridiculous 
rumors. 

Plain truth was sufficiently startling. The lawyers 
for the state found that a villainous plot, wide in its rami- 
fications, had been set on foot to secure a packed jury 
to try the men accused of the murder of Dr. Cronin. 

The conspirators responsible for that assassination 
did not believe that the body of the murdered man 
would be found, or if recovered, that it could be identi- 
fied. Bat the body was found and was fully identified 
and a new conspiracy was formed to extricate suspected 
parties from the net-work of circumstantial and other 
evidence thrown about them. Those in this plot de- 
clared for the benefit of the public that there had been 
no murder, but they did not base their hopes of ac- 
quittal on mere brazenness of assertion. This was to 
open the way for the work of the real conspirators 
whose objective point was the jury. While the lawyers 
for the defense were on parade or engaged in bold or 
adroit manoeuvre to catch the eye of the public, the 
real workers for the defense were employed in a scheme 
of intimidation on one hand and bribery on the other. 
Possible witnesses for the prosecution were driven from 
the line of action marked out by their own impulses, 
and possible jurors were plied with bribes. The 
bribery scheme contemplated not only the bribery of 
jurors but the corruption of officers of the court. The 
plotters did not believe that their machinery could 
fail them, but, as in the finding of the body, exposure 



174 THE CBONIN CASE. 

came upon them, and for a second time they were in 
dire extremity. 

Through the manliness and integrity of Mr. George 
S. Tschappat, one of the veniremen whom the agents 
of the Triangle had attempted to buy, the first clue was 
given to the state's attorney. 

Within thirty-six hours from the time investigation 
was begun the whole plot was laid bare and six of the 
principals were arrested, indicted and placed in the 
county jail to await trial on the charge of attempted 
jury bribery. The names of these culprits are: Alex- 
ander J. Hanks, Mark Salomon, Fred W. Smith, Thomas 
Kavanaugh, Jeremiah O'Donnell, Joseph Konen. 

Hanks had been a bailiff in the criminal court for 
seven years. He was appointed in 1882 at the instance 
of Thomas Sennott, clerk of the probate court. He is 
of German extraction, is married and has two young 
children. He had little or nothing to do with summon- 
ing jurors, his task being to do some very heavy sitting 
as one of the bailiffs having immediate charge of the 
prisoners. He sat every day just behind Coughlin. 
Hanks, like Salomon, approached jurors whom he knew. 
One of the men on the bailiff's list said Hanks had been 
to see him and told him he could get $1,000 for a ver- 
dict for the defense. Hanks further told him how to 
answer questions and that " the defense is fixed all right 
and will understand you." 

Salomon was likewise a bailiff of the criminal 
court, appointed in 1887 on the recommendations of 
M. Lorimer, a West Side politician, and several other 
prominent residents of Chicago's Second District. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 175 

The two bailiffs, by reason of their official connection 
with the court, were enabled to enact their perfidious 
parts with advantage to their employers, the Triangle, 
in this unscrupulous, audacious, and villainous attempt 
to interfere with the cause of justice. 

F. W. Smith, until jailed, was a manufacturer's 
agent at Nos. 135 and 137 Lake street. In style he is 
of the order known as the "dude." He resided for a 
period in Oshkosh, Wis., where it is alleged that he 
narrowly escaped conviction for perjury. His father- 
in-law is James Reynolds, of New Haven, who is 
ex-treasurer of the Clan-na-Gael Triangle. 

Smith's method of approaching jurors was described 
by two or three of the men summoned to the state's 
attorney's office. One of them said Smith met him on 
the street one day and asked him how he would like to 
get on the Cronin jury, adding, "There's 'boodle' in 
it." The man replied that his business would not 
allow him to serve on the jury. Smith fixed the amount 
of "boodle" there was in it at $2,000. The man said 
he was busy, but would talk about it again. He then 
reported the offer he had received to his employer. In a 
second interview with Smith the latter renewed his offer. 

A business man whose name is on the list furnished 
Salomon, gives a substantially similar account of the 
manner in which he was approached. Smith, however, 
made some discrimination in the amounts he offered. 
To the book-keeper for a man to whom he had offered 
$2,000, he only offered $500. 

Thomas Kavanaugh, another of the indicted men, 
was not given notoriety for the first time. He was 



176 THE ORONIN CASE. 

engineer at the county insane asylum during the 
"boodle" days, and his name and management at that 
institution figured frequently in the investigation of 
that institution made by the State Board of Charities 
in 1885. He is a member of the Clan-na-Gael, and 
seems to have been furnished with ample funds for his 
latest exploits. He has been active in spreading the 
report that Cronin \^ as a s py- He began public life 
as a labor agitator. Later on he became a democratic 
politician and narrowly escaped indictment with the 
"boodlers." When the indictment was returned 
against him he professed unconcern. He was a mem- 
ber of the Ogden's Grove picnic committee. Kava- 
naugh's partner, Brown, was summoned as a juror 
three weeks before, but the state challenged him per- 
emptorily. 

Jeremiah O'Donnell was a recently appointed United 
State gauger at South Chicago. He was, for a number 
of years, a street-car conductor on the West Side. He 
said that he had met Kavanaugh on the street one day 
and was asked by him if he would assist in acquitting 
the defense by securing a juror who would vote that 
way for money. Kavanaugh promised to pay the 
money out of his own pocket. O'Donnell remembered 
a friend he had in Calumet and struck a bargain with 
Kavanaugh. He then approached his friend, who is 
not much more than a boy, expressing his own views 
on the Cronin case, instructing the young man how to 
answer the lawyers' questions, and promising him $1,000. 

The sixth man indicted was Joseph Konen, a fruit 
dealer at 246 West Madison street. He had been 



THE CRONIN CASE. 177 

summoned as a juror, but had not yet been examined. 
He was offered $1,000 to go on the jury, with a prom- 
ise of $5,000 in case of an acquittal. He failed to 
report this to the authorities, leading to the inference 
that he had accepted the offer, and for this reason 
doubtless he was indicted. 

Mr. George S. Tschappat, who did the state the 
grand service of exposing this plot, is foreman of the 
Page Lard Refining Company on Erie street. He was 
summoned as a juror on October 8, but was not exam- 
ined on that day. He attended court the next morn- 
ing, remaining with the other unexamined men in the 
ante room. About 10:30 o'clock Bailiff Mark Salo- 
mon, whom he knew well, came and invited him out to 
have a cigar. His civility extended, Salomon asked 
him if he didn't want to make some money, and 
Tschappat naturally gave an affirmative reply. 

" Very well, then," responded Salomon, "you get 
on the jury and stick for an acquittal, and you shall 
have $1,000." The bailiff also told him that the ar- 
rangement could be carried out with his wife. The 
money could be paid to her, and if paid by a certain 
day she should appear in court wearing a dress of a 
color arranged upon. Tschappat replied that he was 
not that kind of a man; to this Salomon answered that 
he w T as working for the court, and pointing to a horse 
and buggy said: " That is my horse and buggy." 

Mr. Tschappat in the afternoon was excused because 
he said he could not give the defendants a fair trial. 
As he was leaving the building Salomon met him and 
said: " Where were you this noon-time? I looked 

12 



178 THE CRONIN CASE. 

everywhere for you. They said to me they would 
' make it $5,000, and d — n him, make him do it.' " 

Tschappat told his employer, Mr. Page. Thursday 
Mr. Page repeated the statement to Mr. Mills, who 
held an interview with Tschappat, who repeated the 
story as he had told it to Mr. Page. Tschappat was 
then invited down to the state's attorney's office and 
seated in an ante-room. Bailiff Salomon was called in 
and questioned. He denied everything. He was con- 
fronted with Tschappat and broke down and made a 
full confession, in which he implicated those who were 
indicted Saturday night. 

Salomon's confession was that he was handed a list 
of corrupt or corruptible jurors by Bailiff Alexander 
L. Hanks, who said: "If we get a man on this jury 
to fix it or if you fix one man, it means $2,000 — half of 
it for the juror and the other half for us." Farther, 
Salomon was to approach the veniremen he knew, and 
Hanks those he was acquainted with. 

Immediately on Salomon's confession Hanks was 
arrested, and he too confessed and produced a list of 
talesmen which tallied with Salomon's. Every man 
whose name was on these lists was immediately sent 
for. Some of them at least told all they knew readily, 
and from their statements the connection of Frederick 
W. Smith, Thomas Kavanaugh and Jeremiah O'Don- 
nell was established. 

One of the first questions asked after the discovery 
of the conspiracy was whether the attorneys for the 
defense, were aware of it. At first the prosecuting 
lawyers were disposed to exonerate them from all knowl- 



THE CRONIN CASE. 179 

edge of the plot. But later they were less emphatic 
in such acquittal. Kavanaugh , though he refused to 
say who supplied him with money, declared that he 
reported to Mr. Forrest. The statement of a man ap- 
proached by Bailiff Hanks, that the bailiff said " the 
defense is fixed for you," looked strangely. So did the 
apparently uniform method of instructing the ap- 
proached jurors as to the answers they were to give 
under examination and their demeanor in the jury box. 




W. S. FORREST. 

Mr. Forrest, early in the trial, stated, in addressing 
the court, that he had practiced law in Chicago for 
twelve years, and it had never been suggested against 
him that he was a jury-fixer. At another time, when 
arguing his motion to have jurors drawn from the box, 
he read from Jeremy Bentham's works wherein that 
writer says that jury-fixing can only be accomplished 



180 THE CRONIN CASE. 

in two ways: Either by getting men of the requisite 
disposition into the jury box, or by giving those already 
there the requisite disposition. The former method 
seems to have been attempted in this case. Whether 
this frequent reference to jury-fixing on the part of 
Mr. Forrest arose from a consciousness of innocence, 
or a consciousness of guilt, is a question perhaps 
psychologists might solve, and only Mr. Forrest 
certainly knows. 

Every attorney for the defense most emphatically 
denied the least suspicion of the attempt at bribery. 

So important and urgent was the discovery of this 
latest conspiracy considered, that in the morning of 
Saturday, Oct. 12, Judge Horton granted an order for 
a special grand jury to be called immediately. The 
members were summoned for 1 o'clock, at which hour 
the following named gentlemen were sworn in: 

The Hon. John A. Roche, foreman: George Lanze, 
Wilhelm Heinzeman, J. W. Brockway, George A. S. 
Wilson, W. H. Rose, H. B. Stimson, John Tomlinson, 
C. W. Gendale, T. F.Haigh, S. M. Moore, H. L. 
Dow, Richard L. Dagen, William L. Grey, John B. 
Miller, Andrew Peterson, W. D. Preston, Richard 
Berlzheimer, D. V. Purington, H. C. Hayt, Thomas 
Moulding, M. Selz, Joseph Cahn. . 

Judge Horton's charge to them was very brief. 
They retired to the grand jury room and remained 
there until 11.30 o'clock at night when they returned 
to the court with indictments against the six men. 

In Branch No. 1, of the criminal court, presided over 
by Judge Baker, on Monday morning, Oct. 14, the 



THE CKONIN CASE. 181 

regular grand jury for the term was impaneled. Its 
members were: 

P. W. Gray, Charles L. Norton, H. Ketterling, 
Joseph O. Noyes, Edward McCarthy, Thomas Maney, 
John A. Bolf, A. J. Tucker, E. F. Brooks, F. Precht, 
W. G. Brushaber, Samuel B. Chase, John N. Summers, 
A. Krueger, Charles Biehl, William W. Latto, George 
Murman, Charles J. Vokiaka, John O. Loughlin, 
John J. Hyland, George N. Davis, E. E. Gilbert, 
Henry Severin. 

The court appointed Mr. S. B. Chase as foreman. 

Directly after the grand jury retired to its room 
State's Attorney Longenecker and Assistant State's 
Attorneys Neeley and Jampolis went to the grand 
jury room. In a few minutes officers from the state's 
attorney's office conducted witnesses before the grand 
jury, and before 1 o'clock Alexander J. Hanks, the 
ex-bailiff, who was indicted on Saturday, had, it is said, 
made a clean breast of the whole affair to the grand 
jury; likewise, ex-bailiff Salomon, Tom Kavanaugh, 
Fred W. Smith and Jeremiah O'Donnell. 

At 1:50 o'clock the grand jury entered Judge Baker's 
court and handed in four indictments — against Alex- 
ander J. Hanks, ex-bailiff, Mark Salomon, ex-bailiff; 
Jeremiah O'Donnell and John Graham, clerk in A. S. 
Trude's office. 

John Graham, the seventh man taken in custody 
and indicted on the charge of jury bribing, has been 
connected with A. S. Trude's law office, as a personal 
friend put it, "since Noah built the ark," which means 
twelve or fifteen years at least. He is a mild-mannered 



182 THE CRONIN CASE. 

man of middle age, a modest dresser and slightly- 
lame. He is a member of the bar, but does not 
practice, being connected with Mr. Trade in the relation 
of a confidential clerk. 

He was arrested on the night of Sunday, the 13th, 
and locked up until indicted. He was the man who fur- 
nished the money wherewith to bribe the jurors. The 
state's attorney asserted that the evidence against him 
was very conclusive. But it is also certain that Graham, 
whatever connection he had with those indicted, was 
merely a go-between for deeper minds and wiser heads. 

"The reason we re-indicted the two bailiffs and the 
manufacturer's agent along with Graham," said the 
state's attorney, "was in order to make out a case of 
conspiracy against Graham. You see one man alone 
can not be indicted on a conspiracy count." 

Hanks, Salomon and Smith are directly responsible 
for Graham's arrest. Salomon confessed all he knew 
when first confronted with the evidence of his crime. 
He w r as a mere tool in the hands of greater villains, 
however, and did not know enough of the inner work- 
ings of the after-plot of the Cronin conspiracy to 
enable the state to reach so high as Graham. But on 
Sunday afternoon ex-bailiff Hanks unburdened his 
mind. He knew much more of the scheme than did 
Salomon, and he it was that gave the name of John 
Graham to the state's officers. Then Smith made a 
clean breast of his knowledge of the plot, which was 
considerable, and corroborative of the ex-bailiff's con- 
fessions. Late in the day both O'Donnell and Graham 
were released on giving bail for $5,000. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 183 

On the night of October 16th, Henry N. Stallen- 
berg, the private secretary of Alexander Sullivan, 
was taken into custody, but he was released the next 
morning. 

The substance of the testimony given by Hanks 
before the grand jury, it was learned from good 
authority, amounted to this: — That the negotiations 
with Graham began in August. Hanks moved slowly, 
because he disliked the job and because the money was 
slow in making its presence felt. Graham and Hanks, 
so says the latter, had frequent consultations con- 
cerning the method of procuring a corrupt juror. 
Hanks wanted to be "cock-sure" the job would go 
through before he attempted it, and required explicit 
instructions respecting his method of procedure. After 
the plans had been agreed on Hanks wanted to know 
what assurance he was to bank on that the money 
would be forthcoming at the proper time. Graham 
assured him that a certain triangler would furnish it — 
there was plenty of it — some wealthy people who 
were under obligations to the person named were fur- 
nishing all the money needed. 

Hanks went to work, but was not successful. Finally 
Graham became impatient and told him that he must 
hustle and get a man on the jury. A few days after he 
called Hank's attention to the fact that eight men had 
been secured and not a man of them could be relied on 
to acquit the defendants. Graham complained that 
these men could not be reached and the defendants 
must have a man put on the jury at once. Hanks 
wanted money. Graham told him that "the fellow at 



184 THE CRONIN CASE. 

the Chicago Opera House" was having a hard time to 
pay the lawyers. In this connection Graham said that 
Alexander Sullivan had raised $8,000 for the defense, 
but he had been compelled to give it all to Attorney 
Forrest, who was clamoring for money. 

Another big sum of money was coming in soon, 
Graham said, and Hanks was given to understand that 
he could rely on getting some of it. Hanks was fur- 
ther promised that a house would be built on two lots 
that he owns but has been unable to build on. 

The $8,000 given to Mr. Forrest is said to have 
been the cause of a breach between Mr. Foster and 
his associates. Foster charged that Beggs was being 
left out of consideration, nothing was being done for 
him, and his lawyer was not getting any of the money 
raised by the trianglers. He protested that Mr. For- 
rest should not have all the money, and in behalf of 
Beggs demanded a portion of the $8,000. Being left 
out in the cold Mr. Foster used his peremptory 
challenges — which were worth more than money then 
— for Mr. Begg's sole and exclusive benefit. 

So it seems, and such is Bailiff Hank's story, not a 
dollar was paid the jury-bribers. Atanyrate Hanks 
got nothing except promises. Money with the defense 
is scarce. One of the boss trianglers is said recently to 
have demanded $600 for the defense fund from a lawyer 
who is a candidate for judge. The triangler relied on 
past political methods and the pull he is supposed to 
have with the Irish voters. Emissaries have recently 
visited Denver, Kansas City, and Davenport, Iowa, for 
the purpose of recouping the defense fund. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 185 

It is said that John Graham and Alexander Sullivan 
had recently been in frequent conference. Graham 
went to Sullivan's office, and Sullivan went to Graham's 
office. 

October 17 — The grand jury returned indictments 
for conspiracy against all seven men included in the 
two indictments of October 12 and 14. 

And here, for the present, rests this sub-plot in the 
Cronin case. When the jury-bribers are brought to 
trial the instigators of the attempt may be detected. 

A more desperate defiance of law than has charac- 
terized this case in all its phases never sounded an 
alarm to the public. It has been evident to the close 
observer that every scheme, however dishonorable, 
that might operate to save the suspects from hanging, 
would be employed by the defense; and it was strongly 
suspected when the persistent demand for special bail- 
iffs was made that the purpose was to hamper the 
state in the selection of an honest, intelligent jury. 
Few imagined, though, that a plan was devised for 
buying one or more jurors to assure the acquittal of 
the defendants. The names involved in the conspir- 
acy as it has been revealed indicate the extent and 
magnitude of the infamous influence at work to keep 
clear of the hangman's noose the necks of the murder- 
ers of Dr. Cronin. These men are unscrupulous, and 
have too much at stake to trust to an honest, thorough 
investigation of the case against their caged agents of 
murder. Time alone can show if the fountain-head of 
this great stream of iniquity will ever be discovered. 



CHAPTEE XL 

A Jury at Last — The Jurors — First Liuk Forged — The Prison- 
ers' Bearing — Opening Address of the State's Attorney — De- 
fense Has Nothing to Say at Present — Hearing of Testimony 
Begins — Witnesses Who Identified Dr. Cronin's Corpse — 
Tactics of Prosecution and Defense. 

About 5 o'clock on the evening of October 22d the 
Cronin jury became an accomplished fact and the last 
quartet were sworn in. The twelve good men and 
true who were finally selected to adjudge the question 
of life and death were as follows: 
W. L. North, B. F. Clarke, 

John L. Hall, James A. Pierson, 

Henry D. Walker, Charles C. Dix, 

Frank Allison, Elijah Bontecoxj, 

E. S. Bryan, C. L. Corke, 

Charles F. Marlor, John Culver. 

William L. North manufactures sewing machines at 
No. 60 Michigan street. He is 43 years old, an Amer- 
ican, and a member of the Fourth Presbyterian 
Church. 

John L. Hall is a draughtsman, age about 29. His 
home is at Fernwood. Is an American born, a Metho- 
dist, and belongs to no society but a benevolent asso- 
ciation. An advocate of temperance. 

Henry D. Walker is 58 years old. American by 
birth. Lives at 3733 Cottage Grove avenue. Is en- 
gaged in the upholstery business. 

Frank Allison, of 5495 Redwood court, is a machin- 
ist, a Presbyterian and an American, born in New York 

(186) 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



187" 



State 39 years ago. He was a most acceptable juror 
to both sides, having evinced a remarkable freedom 
from prejudice. 




W. Lu North. John L. Hall. Henry D. Walker. 

Edward S. Bryan, of Maywood, is a salesman. Born 
in America. A member of the Congregational Church. 
Admitted prejudice against the Clan-na-Gael, but 
would not let that interfere with his hearing the evi- 
dence fairly and impartially. 

Charles F. Marlor is a native of New York State, a 
member of the Episcopal Church; by profession a 
druggist. He acknowledged a prejudice against the 
Clan-na-Gael, but could lay that aside and judge im- 
partially. 






F. Allison. E. S. Bryan. C. F. Marlor. 

Benjamin F. Clarke, of 4432 Evans avenue, has for 
twenty years been prominent in real estate business. 
Belongs to no church or secret society. Said Mr. 



188 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



Clarke: "I am strongly prejudiced, but i£ I am on 
the jury I shall throw aside my prejudices and give a 
verdict on the law and evidence." 




B. F. Clarke. 



J. A. Pierson. C. C. Dix. 



James A. Pierson is a farmer living near Glenwood, 
55 years' of age, does not belong to any church nor 
secret society. Is from old Pennsylvania Dutch stock. 

Charles C. Dix was born in Chicago. Lives at 132 
North Carpenter street. Is cashier of the Eollo Insur- 
ance Company. Attends the Episcopal Church. Is a 
member of the Eoyal Arcanum. Age, 26. 

Elijah Bontecou is a native of Troy, N. T., 35 years 
of age, and a resident of Chicago for twenty-three 




E. Bontecou. 



C. L. Corke. 



J. Culver. 



years. Belongs to the Royal Arcanum, the Legion of 
Honor, and the Knights of Honor. He is a salesman 
for Bissell & Co. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 189 

Charles L. Corke is a druggist; lives at Evanston; 
age, 30 years. Is a Methodist. Member of the Boyal 
League. Admitted prejudice, but it would not affect 
his verdict. 

John Culver is a real estate agent doing business in 
Chicago; lives at Evanston; about 40 years old; an 
American and member of the Methodist Church. Is a 
strong temperance man. Belongs to no secret societies. 

Mr. B. F. Clarke became foreman of the jury. 

It took three weeks in the " omnibus boodle" trial to 
secure a jury, and 720 veniremen were examined be- 
fore that result was attained. In the anarchist trial a 
little over three weeks was occupied in the examination 
of 982 veniremen. The Cronin jury required one 
week longer to complete it than the anarchist and the 
" boodle" juries together, while the total number of 
veniremen fell short by over 500 of the totals of the 
two former trials. 

Up to the close of Oct. 22, that is, before the twelfth 
man was secured, 1,115 men had pledged themselves 
that they would "true answers make to such questions 
as would be put to them by court or counsel touching 
their competency to serve as jurors." Of this number 
175 answered the lawyers' questions in such a manner 
as to entitle them to be qualified as jurors, and 756 
citizens declared themselves unable to give the defend- 
ants a fair trial. 

The cost for fees alone to veniremen summoned 
amounted to $3,800. 

Thursday morning, Oct. 24, 1889, the Cronin trial 
began in earnest. 



190 THE CRONIN CASE. 

It was almost on the strike of 10 o'clock when, the 
judge, the jury and the attorneys having been seated, 
the clerk called the roll of the twelve good men and 
true, and each juror answered " Ifere,". in clear, distinct 
tones. As a body they looked unusually intelligent, 
and wore an air of dignity and solemnity that sat well 
on the men whom Judge McConnell had pronounced 
"ideal jurors." 

Not so with the prisoners. Not since the trial be- 
gan, now more than two months, had they carried such 
serious countenances. Though Kunze smiled and nod- 
ded to the reporters, his face was very much paler than 
usual. The hectic flush, peculiar to Begg's full cheeks, 
was scarcely perceptible when he took his seat, and 
Burke's red face grew blue as the state's attorney be- 
gan to unfold with startling vividness the depth and 
infamy of the murderous plot. Save that O' Sullivan 
grew white, and his habitual scowl darker and deeper, 
he was apparently an unmoved spectator to the pro- 
ceedings. The man who showed the effects of the 
prosecutor's vigorous charge to the jury most, was the 
ex-detective, Coughlin. More than once his face 
blanched and all day long he moved uneasily in his seat 
and affected a lightness it was plain to see was not 
genuine. 

At 10:30 o'clock the state's attorney stood before 
the jury. Without affectation, in a clear, straightfor- 
ward manner, the public prosecutor for the people of 
Illinois began to outline his case against the five men 
accused of murdering Dr. Oronin. The court-room was 
crowded, and fully one-quarter of the morning's audi- 




(191) 



192 THE CRONIN CASE. 

ence were ladies. All was still when lie commenced, 
and each head was bent forward to catch the words that 
fell from the speaker's lips. 

Instructions as to their duties occupied the first 
fifteen minutes of Mr. Longenecker's opening speech, 
and the balance was a review of facts stated in these 
pages. 

When Mr. Longenecker concluded the attorneys for 
the defense got up and each informed the Court that 
" any statement I have to make will be deferred." 

The witnesses on this day were all called to prove 
the identification of the body found in the catch-basin 
on Evanston avenue. 

Mr. Ingham, on behalf of the state, examined the 
witnesses. Mr. Forrest conducted the cross-examina- 
tion on the part of the defense. His questions were 
clearly for the purpose of raising a doubt as to the 
identification. He pressed his questions about the con- 
dition of the body, its decomposition and its swollen 
state; to measurements and ratios. In his cross- 
examination of Henry Roesch, who found the body, he 
tried to make it appear that the cuts and bruises on the 
head might have been produced in taking the body out 
of the catch-basin. He wanted to know the latitude 
and longitude of the body in the basin, and its direc- 
tion, to the splitting of a hair, " 'twixt sou'-sou'west 
and sou.' " But a man does not find a human corpse 
in a sewer without having the details indelibly im- 
pressed on his memory, and Henry Roesch, having done 
that very thing, was so clear in his evidence that Mr, 
Forrest was unable to shake him a hair's breath. 



THE OKONIN CASE. 193 

Captain Francisco Villiers was the first witness. On 
May 22 he said he was Commissioner of Public Works. 
That day he met and stopped the patrol wagon. In it 
was a body which he recognized at once as that of Dr. 
Cronin, whom he had known for two years. 

James F. Boland testified that he knew Dr. Cronin 
intimately. He had identified the body at the morgue 
by the general contour of the face, the forehead and 
the nose, and by a broken finger of the right hand. 

James P. Holland had employed Dr. Cronin as his 
family physician. He also saw the corpse at the 
morgue and was positive that the remains were those of 
Dr. Cronin. 

Henry Eoesch, of Ravenswood, said he was a sub- 
foreman for Lake View on May 22. On the afternoon 
of that day he, with others, was at work cleaning the 
ditches leading into the sewer at Fifty-ninth street and 
Evanston avenue. After cleaning the ditch on the west 
side of Evanston avenue they went to the east side, on 
which was the catch-basin in which the body was found. 
A stench arising from the basin made him believe a 
dead dog was inside, and, looking through the grating, 
he thought he saw one, the cotton batting surrounding 
the body being by him mistaken for hair. He lifted 
the lid, and, looking in, saw it was a man's body, the 
shoulders and the soles of the feet being visible. The 
rest of the body was covered by water and the cotton 
batting. The body was lying on its face, the head bent 
down on the chest and against the southwest part of the 
basin. The knees were bent, exposing the soles of the 
feet, and the toes were protruding into the opening 

13 



194 THE CRONIN CASE. 

from the basin to the sewer. On making this discovery- 
he went to Noyes's grocery store in Argyle and tele- 
phoned the Lake View police. In response, the patrol 
wagon drove up in charge of Capt. Wing and Officers 
James Phillips and George Malley, accompanied by a 
reporter. The entire covering of the catch-basin was 
then taken off and a horse blanket let down on one side 
of the body. With a hoe handle put through the grat- 
ing at the side of the basin, the blanket was pushed 
under the body and drawn up on the other side. In 
this way the body was lifted out. The position of the 
blanket under the body brought it up in a standing 
position and necessitated a knot in the blanket before 
the body could be lifted out. 

On cross-examination Mr. Forrest tried to make him 
admit that in getting the body out the head and face 
might have came in contact with the inside of the basin 
and thus have produced the cuts and bruises. The 
witness, however, was certain that such was not the 
case; that the only part of the body thus coming 
in contact with the brick«work was the chest and 
shoulders. 

Including tying the knot in the blanket, the process 
of lifting the body out and putting it on the stretcher, 
the witness thought occupied about three minutes after 
the blanket was got in place. 

Stephen Conley, the next witness, had known Dr. 
Cronin for five years, intimately for three. For two 
years they w r ere colleagues on the Board of Directors 
of the Illinois Foresters, and met twice a month, some- 
times every week. He went to the morgue on May 23, 



THE CRONIN CASE. 195 

and there saw a body he was certain was that of Dr. 
Cronin. 

H. F. Wisch, the Doctor's barber, who shaved him 
every day, visited the morgue on May 22. He fully 
identified the corpse as being that of the murdered 
physician by every feature and by the way the hair was 
cut. 

Maurice Morris was interested with Dr. Cronin in 
the publication of the Celto-American. He identified 
the body at Lake View morgue on May 23 by its general 
appearance and by the broken finger of the right hand. 

John O' Byrne had known Dr. Cronin for six years, 
— had visited him at his office twice a week and at his 
home on Sunday for the last year. He positively 
identified the body, on May 23, at the morgue, particu- 
larly noting the small imperial and the broken finger. 

Court then adjourned until 10 o'clock next morniDg. 

The theory of the prosecution, as stated by the 
state's attorney in his opening address, is, in brief, 
that there was a conspiracy to kill Dr. Cronin; that 
Dr. Cronin was killed, and that all engaged in the 
conspiracy were liable for murder. This touches not 
only the five prisoners, but all who were engaged in 
the conspiracy, and hence the efforts, by interruptions 
and objections, of the lawyers for the defense to 
frighten the state's attorney away from direct refer- 
ence to the triangle. He was not turned from his 
purpose, however, but proceeded to outline with telling 
force what the state expected to prove of the hatching 
of the plot, as well as the steps in the conspiracy that 
led to the murder. 



196 THE CRONIN CASE. 

The position of the defense was simply one of 
denial. Their policy was inaugurated a few days after 
Dr. Cronin's disappearance, when rumors of his hav- 
ing been seen in Chicago and in Canada were circu- 
lated. They planned to deny that Dr. Cronin was 
dead; to deny that the body found was his, and that 
as there was no murder there could be no conspiracy 
to kill. 



CHAPTEE XII. 

The Second Day for Testimony— Medical Experts and Mr. Wing 
— Dr. Perkins' Clear Evidence Silences the Surgical Amateur 
—October 26 — Dr. Moore and Mr. Forrest — A Most Dramatic 
Scene — Messrs. Hynes and Mills in Angry Protest — Judge 
McCoDnell Reverses a Decision — Patrick Dinan and His 
White Horse — Delendants Grow Excited as They Listen to 
the Story. 

The proceedings on the second day of hearing testi- 
mony were carried on with great caution on both 
sides. The outer air was dark and murky, and the 
tale of how Dr. Cronin's body was found and the 
ghastly scenes in connection with- fishing it up out of 
the catch-basin was in keeping with the gloomy ap- 
pearance of the weather. The evidence heard was still 
regarding the identification of the body. Witnesses 
Nicholas Wallenborn, T. T. Conklin, J. F. Scanlan, 
Frank Scanlan, David P. Ahern, Patrick McGarry, and 
Dr. T. W. Lewis, the dentist, each gave evidence 
proving beyond all peradventure that the body found 
was that of Dr. Cronin. 

Mr. Forrest, for the defense, in his cross-examina- 
tion, directed his attention to the discrediting of wit- 
nesses who identified the body by its general appear- 
ance and the prominent features of the dead man's 
face. 

Dentist Lewis, however, set all doubts at rest by 
testifying that he found in the mouth of the body a 
tooth he had filled and the root of another tooth which 
he had a month before prepared for a metal crown, 

(197) 



198 THE CBONIN CASE. 

Dr. Egbert produced a plate taken from the dead 
man's mouth, which the dentist recognized positively 
as his work. It was of a peculiar metal and was made 
for Dr. Oronin. This witness clinched the identifica- 
tion. 

In cross-examining those who saw the body removed 
from the catch-basin, Lawyer Forrest attempted to 
show that the corpse was roughly handled, and that the 
wounds on the head might have been made by striking 
the walls of the man-hole or other obstacles. John. 
Fennegar, a German laborer employed in the ditching 
of Evanston avenue, who was present at the finding, 
was led to say that it fell back once, and that a hoe was 
used in lifting it up. He said he did not help raise the 
corpse. Policeman Malley and Captain Wing, who did 
remove the body, denied that it had slipped back at all. 
They testified that a hoe handle was used to push the 
blanket under the body. 

Dr. Egbert, assistant county physician, gave good 
evidence regarding the plates found in the mouth when 
he performed the autopsy. He made his statements 
from notes, and the testimony was important. Mr. 
Wing, who had evidently been reading up Carpenter's 
Animal Physiology, or some such standard work, put 
the Doctor well through his acquaintance with those 
subjects, but failed to shake his testimony. 

In Dr. Perkins, Mr. Wing caught a Tartar. The 
counsel for the defense relied upon an expert's report 
which bristled abundantly with technical and nice 
physicological points To every one of them Dr. 
Perkins mnde satisfactory and convincing answers, and 



THE CRoNIN CASE. 



199 



his professional knowledge and clear demonstration 
charmed every one but the lawyers for the defense. He 
spoke in plain and concise language. At first he was 
going to testify from the same notes used by Dr. 
Egbert, they having been made in his presence. But 
as he had never verified them the Court would not per- 
mit their use. He did not need them. His recollec- 
tion was clear and his descriptions vivid. He found the 




JUDGE WING. 

body, he said, swollen and distended with post-mortem 
gases. Decomposition was well advanced and discolor- 
ation marked. He then described the wounds he found 
on the head. First, there was one on the outer angle 
of the left eye, somewhat circular in form, about an 
inch and a half in length, in which the bone was 
chipped away a quarter of an inch. At the juncture 
of the frontal with the left parietal, just below the 
median line, was another. It was about two inches in 



200 THE CRONIN CA.SE. 

length, extending posteriorally and outward. Just back 
of this was a third, nearly as long and extending 
anteriorally and outward. Near the left occipital pro- 
tuberance was a ragged wound about three inches long 
extending to the periosteum and in places through it. 
In this was a flap of the external integument about a 
quarter of an inch long, attached at the upper and de- 
tached at the lower end, fitting into the gaping incision. 
On the right side of the head was a bruise or contusion, 
and midway between {he angle of the jaw and the 
angle of the chin on the left side was another incision 
severing the facial artery. The facial and occipital 
arteries, which were both severed, are branches of the 
external arteries of the head. The hemorrhage conse 
quent upon their severance would be great, and if not 
stopped would eventually cause death. He believed 
that death was the result of the injuries he had described. 
In starting the cross-examination of Dr. Perkins, 
Mr. Wing wore an air of: u Now see how easy I am 
going to settle this witness." But the medical knowl- 
edge of the legal light, though considerable, and 
acquired for the occasion, and which had loomed up 
so big while Dr. Egbert was under his questioning, 
dwindled into nothingness before the extensive, accurate 
and ready acquirements of Dr. Perkins. 

The hearing of these witnesses occupied the entire 
day and the proceedings were devoid of any startling 
features. 

THE MORNING OF OCTOBER 26 
was cold and dismal around the criminal court 
building. Bain splashed against the windows and the 



THE CRONIN CASE. 201 

day grew so dark that the electric lamps were lighted. 
But still the crowd of men and women besieged the 
Dearborn street entrance to the court and howled for 
admittance. When the prisoners, led by Senior Guard- 
ian Beggs, tramped into the room, every seat reserved 
for spectators was occupied. 

Court was in session just two hours and a half. 
In that time the prosecutors introduced two important 
witnesses and successfully combated a remarkable 
ruling by Judge McConnell. They continued their 
inquiry as to the cause of Dr. Cronin's death and suc- 
ceeded in substantiating all the vital points made by 
Surgeon Perkins, who removed the viscera and the top 
of the skull of the body at the autopsy. Dr. D. G. 
Moore was placed on the stand. He assisted in the 
dissection. His presence in the witness chair was a 
surprise to the lawyers for the defense. Dr. Moore 
did not testify at the coroner's inquest or before the 
grand jury, nor had he made any deposition in the 
extradition of Burke. Mr. Forrest, drawing these 
admissions from the witness, objected to his giving 
testimony, but the court over-ruled the objection and 
the Doctor began his story of the appearance of the 
wounds and condition of the viscera- These gashes, 
the witness was convinced, were necessarily mortal. 
Death had come from concussion or contusion of the 
brain, and not from hemorrhage caused by the sever- 
ing of the facial and occipital arteries. These blood 
vessels, the autopsy showed, were cut, as they had 
retracted and could not be found. While a strong 
man could bleed to death from the severing of these 



202 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



arteries, dissolution would not be speedy, as the vessels 
are small. Death had doubtless come from the shock 
the brain received and while the hemorrhage was yet 
in progress. A thorough examination of the viscera 
showed no signs of ante-mortem degeneration. There 




" '-' • ..''•♦ 



LUTHER LAFLIN MILLS. 

was another proof that the Doctor had died from 
violence. The brain, however, was gone. 

Cross-examiner Forrest, with his grim face wrinkled 
in a smile, asked if there were not some grounds for 
believing that Dr. Cronin died suddenly from acute 
brain trouble. This was a new move for the defense. 
The witness declared that the healthy condition of the 



THE CEONIN CASE. 203 

viscera was in itself a convincing refutation of such an 
assertion. Then Mr. Forrest suggested the possibility 
of sudden death from chronic brain trouble, and asked, 
provided such was a fact, if the surgeons who con- 
ducted the autopsy could determine it by the appear- 
ance of the brain. As there had been no brain to 
examine, Dr. Moore was unable to combat this strange 
theory. He was satisfied from the contused condition 
of the wounds that they had been inflicted before 
death. It was impossible to leave any contusion about 
a scalp- wound after death. 

Mr. Forrest, still looking for a cudgel with which 
to break the damaging testimony of the surgeon, was 
rewarded a minute later by the admission that he had 
but a few hours before read the newspaper reports of 
Dr. Egbert's testimony on the previous day. Then 
Mr. Forrest moved that Dr. Moore's entire evidence be 
stricken out of the record. 

Judge McConnell sustained the motion. 

Like a bombshell fell the reply of the judge, grant- 
ing the request. 

In an instant both Mr. H)nes and Mr. Mills were 
on their feet, their faces flushed with anger. A great 
stillness fell upon the court-room as the big Irish 
lawyer began to address the court. 

" This case may as well be adjourned at this moment, 
if this rule is to stand," he said, and the audience held 
its breath as the logic of his argument struck a re- 
sponsive echo in the minds of all present. 

"We may as well stop these proceedings instantly," 
thundered Mr. Mills, his indignation augmented by the 



204 THE CRONIN CASE. 

cynical smile which played around the features of the 
leading attorney for the defense. 

The ringing tones of Mr. Mills' voice banished Mr. 
Forrest's smile instantly. From the jury-box twelve 
pairs of eyes riveted themselves upon the speaker, 
almost concealed from view, Judge McGonnell sat 
back in his chair, mentally considering the effects of 




MR. W. J. HYNES. 

his ruling thus glaringly depicted before him, and 
apparently heeding nothing of the arguments plausibly 
advanced by Mr. Forrest to sustain him in his posi- 
tion. Once again the voice of Mr. Hynes was heard, 
his feelings over the injustice which would result to 
witnesses for the state, impelled him to oratory that 
thrilled all who heard him. 

"Frank and honest witnesses will be debarred from 
taking the witness chair, while perjurers will have the 



THE CKONIN CASE. 205 

advantage over honest men," he declared. The voice 
of the lawyer trembled almost to a sob as he shook 
his fist at the imaginary witness-chair, peopled with the 
foes of justice. It was a scene that will remain with 
the jurors long after they have handed in their verdict 
and returned to their daily avocations. 
, The prisoners leaned forward and watched the 
struggle with intense interest. The prosecutors had 
scarcely ceased when Mr. Forrest arose and intimated 
that Dr. Moore had been called at the eleventh hour to 
patch up holes in the testimony of Dr. Egbert. This 
was a taunt that brought Mr. Hynes and Mr. Mills to 
their feet again, and called forth a censure from the 
court. Judge McOonnell, speaking in a low voice, 
then said, that if such a ruling was enforced in its 
spirit, there would be no reason for continuing the 
case, but he did not contemplate such a course. Mr. 
Hynes, seeing that the court was retiring, then arose, 
and with a burst of rhetoric that came very near pro- 
voking applause from the benches, declared that with 
such a ruling as that delivered from the bench, the 
testimony of honorable men who would appear for the 
state, and who could not be influenced by newspaper 
reports, would be excluded, while the testimony of 
perjurers who would swear that they had not read the 
newspaper accounts of the trial, would go on record. 
As the big lawyer sat down, Mr. Ingham and Mr. 
Scanlan appeared with law looks, piled high upon their 
arms. But the battle was now over, and the prose- 
cution had won. With much deliberation Judge 
McConnell reversed his previous decision, and ruled 



206 THE CRONIN CASE. 

that the testimony of witnesses who had read the evi- 
dence in newspaper reports, was competent, and that 
it must be admitted. The ruling commended itself by 
its evident honesty and good sense, and the presiding 
judge scored a great victory for impartially waiving a 
rule to meet the exigencies of the great occasion. 

"Call Patrick Dinan." 

A weather-beaten man about 45 years of age took 
the witness chair. In language flavored occasionally 
with stable vernacular, Mr. Dinan told of Dan Cough- 
lin's famous visit to his livery stable on the afternoon 
of the Cronin tragedy, and his evidence was similar to 
his statements recorded in a former chapter. 

Ample as was the direct examination of Mr. Dinan, 
in fastening upon Ooughlin his share in the conspiracy, 
it remained for Mr Forrest, on cross-examination, to 
draw out still more damaging testimony against his 
client. Dan Coughlin's undisguised fear lest the 
liveryman should not believe that his "friend who had 
gone to New Mexico," was the mysterious stranger, 
was almost forgotten in the disclosure that his attorney 
had been even more anxious to get that white horse 
and the buggy into his possession for a brief while. 

Mr. Forrest said to the liveryman: 

Q. — Where is that white horse, and where has it 
been kept since? A. — He has been kept in my stable 
the biggest part of the time. There were three weeks 
when he was in the museum. 

Q.— Do you remember that I called on you once and 
you told me you had orders not to let him out? A. — I 
told you that to get rid of you; I tried hard to get rid 



THE CRONIN CASE. 207 

of you, but you would not go, and in order to get rid of 
you, at last I told you that. 

Q. — Did you have orders at that time not to let that 
horse go out? A. — No, sir; no one gave me any or- 
ders of the kind. 

Q. — Did you not tell me at that time that you were 
paid to keep him in the stable? A. — Yes, I told you 
that, too, to get rid of you. 

Q. — Was that true? A. — No, sir, it was not true; I 
told you that to get rid of you, because I could not get 
rid of you in any other way. 

Q. — Now, then, when was it, as you say, that Dan 
Coughlin used the word "weakener?" A. — It was 
after this horse was identified. 

Q. — How was it that Daniel Coughlin used the word 
"weakener?" State the entire conversation. A. — I 
met him one day and he said: " Now, Dinan, you are 
satisfied;" and I said, " Yes, and I am mighty glad of 
it that I am satisfied." 

The quaint replies of Mr. Dinan were a source of 
amusement to everybody except the prisoners and 
their lawyers. 

THE DEFENDANTS EXCITED. 

There was a veritable sensation among the prisoners 
when the livery-stable keeper took the stand. Cough- 
lin turned to Beggs and tried to smile, — there was a 
solemn feeling passing through the ex-detective which 
a feeble attempt at mirth could not conceal. He 
handed a piece of paper to Mr. Qualey, his counsel, 
who read it carefully, then passed it to his neighbor 



208 THE CRONIN CASE. 

Donahoe, and finally it was put before the solemn 
Wing, who is the next great brain-carrier of the 
defense, after Forrest, who is facile princeps among 
the Triangle attorneys. The ex-detective then leaned 
back and fixed his eyes upon the owner of the famous 
white horse. He listened to catch every word that the 
witness uttered, and occasionally peered cautiously 
around the court-room to perceive whether any one 
was watching the emotion he betrayed. 

O' Sullivan looked his best through his small and 
vindictive eyes. He was gloomy throughout and while 
trying to assume an air of indifference, he could not 
disguise his uneasiness as Dinan, with characteristic 
candor, detailed the facts respecting Coughlin's friend 
taking the white horse and buggy. The iceman then 
turned to Mr. Donahoe, opening and shutting his eyes 
with unusual rapidity, plainly revealing the great 
interest he took in the man and his story. Both he 
and Coughlin were very pale. Burke flushed more 
than is his wont while this evidence was being 
given. Kunze sat forward in great attention and 
contemplation of the witness. Beggs took notes, he 
leaned forward, looking long and inquiringly into 
Dinan's face. The whole attitude of the defense 
was a study. The air of injured innocence with which 
Mr. Forrest stands up to insinuate a conspiracy on the 
part cf the state, the fishing questions or the im- 
pudent interrogatories he administered to witnesses, 
were worthy of the Angel Gabriel telling of the coming 
of the Holy Ghost and of the dark man behind all 
the business, and the prisoners, who, like Talbot, the 



THE CRONIN CASE. 209 

Irish spy, were regular communicants at the altar of 
their God. 

In regard to the matter of the judge receding from 
an untenable position which he had been led to take 
through his application to this peculiar case of a legal 
rule: if there is an appeal to the Supreme Court, the law- 
yers for the defense will make this one of their chief "er- 
rors," and they will ring the changes on the dangers 
which will grow out of over- ruling one of the hoary prin- 
ciples of the law. But the Judges of the Supreme Court 
will doubtless take as sensible a view of it as Judge 
McConnell finally did, and will hold that to permit a 
witness, either with or without intention, to deprive 
the state of what may be most important testimony, is 
too great a concession to the criminal classes. Were 
they to hold otherwise, all that an unwilling witness 
need do to avoid having his evidence admitted would 
be to read a few lines in a morning paper. The rule 
does not accord with common sense. 



u 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Getting Near the Cottage — Mrs. Conklin On the Stand — Good 
Evidence For the State — October 29 — A Line of Know-Noth- 
ing Witnesses — Inside of Camp No. 20 — Unwilling, but Very 
Important Testimony — Burke's Chum Colleran — No Favors 
For Frank Woodruff. 

On the 28th the Cronin trial moved a step nearer to 
the Carlson cottage. Everything of importance around 
that spot was soon elicited, and the camera of judicial 
investigation was moved a few blocks northward in the 
direction of the scene of the tragedy. The Windsor 
Theatre block, where the ill-fated Doctor had his office 
and lived in the Conklin flat, was the scene of the day's 
inquiry. 

Mr. Forrest seemed to have abandoned the idea of 
disputing Dr. Cronin' s death. He spoke of " the 
Doctor's body," which had been found, and in other 
ways let it be understood that the defense practically 
conceded the corpus delicti as proven. 

Not content with the lesson administered by Livery- 
man Dinan on the evils of oyer-inquisitiveness, Mr. 
Forrest this day returned to the attack on the witnesses 
for the state, and was even more severely made to feel 
the penalty of his temerity. Napier Moreland, the 
hostler who had hitched up the horse and buggy for its 
errand of death, told a story, in reply to Attorney 
Mills, that was confirmatory of the liveryman's in every 
detail. His share in the events of the evening of May 
4 was insignificant enough as detailed in his direct ex- 
amination. He saw the horse taken out, and was alone 

(210) 



THE CRONIN CASE. 211 

in the stable when it was brought back. His description 
of the missing stranger corresponded with that given 
by Dinan, and of the connection between this stranger 
and Coughlin he was asked not a word. On cross- 
examination, however, Mr. Forrest's over inquisitiveiiess 
unearthed a fact showing just how he was able to de- 
termine the exact time at which the rig had been 
returned. The time had been fixed in his memory 
because an officer, inquiring whether all the stock had 
been returned to the stable, had called about half an 
hour after the mysterious stranger had slunk away into 
the darkness without showing his face. This disclosure 
was a staggerer to Mr. Forrest; he closed the cross- 
examination abruptly, and later on vigorously opposed 
any attempt of the prosecuting attorneys at further 
elucidation of the second mysterious visitor at 

• dinan's stables. 

A stir of expectancy ran through the court when 
Mr. Mills' voice was heard calling for Mrs. Conklin. 
The lady at whose board the murdered man had sat for 
upward of a decade, ascended the steps leading to the 
witness chair, a slight blush on her cheek, which 
quickly vanished, being the only symptom of nervous- ' 
ness discernible. Plainly, and without attempting to 
go beyond the limits of admissible testimony, she re- 
lated the oft-told story of the Doctor's being taken 
away by the fictitious summons, to attend an injured 
man. The Doctor's earnestness to hasten to the call 
of duty was touchingly portrayed as she described 
how he had snatched up his case of surgical appliances 



212 THE CKONIN CASE* 

and the bundle of cotton batting that was afterward 
to be his only covering. The picture she drew of the 
famous white horse, imitating its peculiar restless 
movements with her gloved hands resting in her lap; 
her position at the window from which she watched the 
Doctor and his decoy seat themselves in the buggy; 
the parting between the Doctor and the last friend who 
saw him alive — all these were given in a manner that 
was encouraging to the hopes of the state, and elicited 
universally favorable comment. 

When Mr. Forrest rose to cross-examine, his manner 
betrayed that he considered the witness worthy of the 
exercise of his greatest skill. Suavely, as though he 
were making an afternoon call, he addressed himself 
to the lady, prefixing his questions with a decorous 
u Madam," that was as respectful as could be desired. 
In her direct examination Mrs. Conklin had spoken of 
the first time she identified the white horse, as being 
three days after the discovery of the body. Upon this 
statement Mr. Forrest essayed to impeach the witness. 
He elicited from her that Captain Schaack had brought a 
white horse to be identified three or four days after the 
Doctor's disappearance, but that she failed to recog- 
nize the animal. Unfortunately, the lawyer's bump 
of extra inquiry got the better of his discretion, once 
again, and he further drew from the witness a con- 
elusive reason why she failed to identify the horse 
brought to her by Captain Schaack. By the aid of a 
diagram of the Windsor Theatre block and its frontage 
on Clark street, Mrs. Conklin showed how the horse 
had stood on the 4th of May, so that she could see its 



THE CRONIN CASE. 213 

face and note its peculiar restless action, whereas, when 
Schaack came to her the horse stood in such a position 
that she could only see it by looking over the buggy- 
top, which intercepted her view. Moreover, the color 
of the horse was different on account of a heavy rain 
storm at the time, the creamy whiteness that was so 
noticeable the night of May 4, being dulled by the 
soaking wet. 

Inch by inch Mr. Forrest fought this ground, smil- 
ing upon the jury whenever a question of more than 
usual perplexity was given to the witness. His efforts 
were fruitless. Her identification on the latter occa- 
sion was as easily and fully explained as the failure of 
the first. The contest between the counsel and the lady 
was an unequal one, and the lawyer sat down discomfited 
and beaten. 

When, in her direct examination * Mrs. Conklin had 
spoken of Iceman O' Sullivan's shifty explanation of the 
contract, and had repeated her woman's logic as spoken 
to him at the time, Lawyer Donahoe had bridled up 
fiercely, and during the cross-examination by Mr. 
Forrest, had sat glancing at the witness. How Mrs. 
Conkling would fare at the hands of O'Sullivan's 
attorney was a matter of speculation, and a "scene in 
court " was generally expected . The fortunate inter- 
mission of a lunch hour cooled the attorney's bellicose 
temperament, and when his turn came, though his 
looks were still fierce as a dragon's, his language was 
mild as the cooing of a dove. 

The examination of Exporter Beck, who had taken 
the white horse to Mrs. Conklin for the second inspec- 



214 THE CRONIN CASE. 

tion, when she fully identified it, was brief and suffi- 
cient. He confirmed the story of Mrs. Conklin, and 
further disclosed that a second witness for the same 
purpose would appear for the state. A bull-dozing 
attempt to impeach the witness' veracity was 
promptly checked by Judge McConnell, and Mr. Beck's 
testimony was left unchanged. 

The Misses Sarah and Agnes McNearney, who were 
present at Dr. Cronin's rooms when the mysterious 
stranger called, described the man in terms that cor- 
responded in all particulars to the descriptions given 
by other witnesses. 

When John Joseph Cronin, a brother of the mur- 
dered physician, was leaving the witness-chair, where 
he had been called in the matter of identification, a 
scene occurred that was almost dramatic. Mr. Cronin 
is an old man and quite gray, he walks slowly and is a 
typical farmer. As he passed the row of prisoners 
he halted for a moment and stood examining the 
features of the men charged with his brother's murder. 
The tell-tale features of the accused instantly bespoke 
the agitation caused by this scrutiny. Burke's face turned 
purple, while Kunze, O'Sullivan and Coughlin bent low 
to avoid the reproachful glance of the victim's brother. 

Frank Scanlan, the last friend to see Dr. Cronin 
alive, told of the chance meeting on the sidewalk, and 
the Doctor's prophetic answer to the question, when he 
would be back. 

" 'God knows,' he said to me," and the hushed 
silence which followed these words was as though a 
voice from the grave had been heard. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 215 

" Wait until these witnesses are face to face with a 
cross-examining lawyer — the bottom will drop out of 
this case then," was a frequent comment of the Tri- 
angle faction during the hearing before Coroner Hertz. 

" We are most thankful to the lawyers for the defense 
for the strength they have added to the case for the 
state by their cross-examination of witnesses," said a 
prominent Croninite at the close of this day's court 
proceedings. 

kC What the average member of Camp No. 20 has 
forgotten about the Cronin conspiracy would fill a big 
volume," was said by a court visitor, after hearing the 
evidence of Tuesday, October 29. 

" Yes, and what he can remember would barely make 
two lines," was the reply. 

The exhibition of intellectual vacuity by unwilling 
witnesses who were summoned by the state* was, on 
this day, most remarkable. Not even Mr. Forrest's 
special prying, which had on previous days proved so 
beneficial to the prosecution, by bringing in evidence 
that otherwise would never have been given, was power- 
ful enough to break down the wall of know-nothingism 
behind which the members of Camp No. 20 ensconced 
themselves. 

As if to contrast in the minds of the jury the differ- 
ence in the character of witnesses anxious to help the 
prosecution, and others who would shield the prisoners, 
the state introduced at the opening of this morning's ses- 
sion two women to give corroborative testimony on minor 
details of Dr. Cronin being taken away. Mrs. P. Dinan, 
wife of the liveryman, told of what she saw on the night 



216 THE CRONIN CASE. 

of May 4, which, briefly, amounted to the fact of seeing 
the horse and buggy taken out and driven home. Her 
testimony was so limited that Mr. Forrest was unable 
to get in more than a dozen or so objections before she 
was given into his charge for cross-examination. 

The second witness was Mrs. Laura Herman, a friend 
of the Conklins, who was at the latter' s house during 
the interview between Mrs. Conklin and O'Sullivan. 
Her testimony was brief, and the only new point dis- 
closed by it was that O'Sullivan had declared to her 
that he did not know Dr. Cronin until introduced to 
him by Justice Mahoney. 

Then commenced a procession of witnesses that 
recalled the most wearisome days of the jury hunt. 
" Call John F. O'Connor" was the summons shouted 
by the state's attorney. 

A smooth-faced young man, with a heavy forehead, 
took the chair and stated that he was the recording 
secretary of Camp No. 20, of the United Brotherhood, 
commonly know T n as the Clan-na-Gael. Having de- 
livered himself of this information, the witness ap- 
peared to have concluded that he had told all he knew 
about the Cronin mystery or conspiracy. He, how- 
ever, disclosed the fact that the outward name of Camp 
No. 20, was the Columbia Club. Pulling eye-teeth 
was child's play, compared with the labor it cost to ex- 
tract from this witness that Burke, Coughlin, Cooney, 
O'Sullivan and Beggs were members of that camp. 
But when Mr. Longenecker essayed to learn from the 
witness something of the trouble that had preceded the 
appointment of a secret committee at a meeting of the 



THE CRONIN CASE. 217 

camp early in February, Mr. O'Connor's memory be- 
gan to play him sad tricks. 

People in the audience craned their necks to catch 
the interesting disclosures, but the disclosures refused 
to make their appearance. Even the jurors, who had 
expressed themselves as veniremen, as anything but 
favorably disposed to members of Camp 20, straight- 
ened up in their chairs to give the witness the benefit 
of the fair and impartial hearing they had sworn to 
accord all testimony for or against the defendants. 
Unfortunately for the jurors' expectations, the testi- 
mony failed to materialize 

A book fairly well filled with scrawling notes was 
handed to the witness and he identified it as the min- 
ute-book of the infamous camp. Even with the min- 
utes to refresh his memory, O'Connor was still pain- 
fully oblivious of anything approaching a disturbance 
thiat occurred at the meeting. Over and over again 
did the state's attorney return to the attack, but 
O'Connor was not in a communicative mood, and the 
little information he did let fall was in shreds and 
patches of the weakest kind. 

Mr. Foster at the outset had collided with a dozen 
or more hap-hazard objections by Mr. Forrest, and 
made the best impression yet shown on behalf of the 
prisoners, by declaring that he was willing for the 
state to prove all the facts connected with Camp No. 
20. He undertook to cross-examine the recording 
secretary, and soon proved that the art of refreshing 
the memories of Clan-na-Gael officials is not entirely a 
buried mystery. So well did he succeed that Mr, 



218 THE CRONIN CASE. 

O'Connor was willing to testify to matters of two and 
three years ago, all of which were verdant in his 
memory as the name of the camp itself, but of things 
connected with the meetings in February of 1889, or 
any matters touching secret committees, Dr. Cronin, or 
thereto related, his was a perfect blank, and finally the 
prosecuting lawyers objected to any more recital of 
ancient history. 

When Messrs. Longenecker, Hynes and Mills returned 
to court after the mid-day recess, it was evident that 
their hasty lunch had not satisfied their appetites. 
Hunger keen and savage, rendered them ferocious. 
Their voracity was not for meat and drink, but for in- 
formation. 

Andrew Foy, the first witness after lunch, seemed 
to think Judge McConnelFs court was a sort of annex 
to Camp No. 20, where members of that organization 
were invited to enjoy themselves at the expense of the 
county. In Mr. Foy's eyes, Mr Foy's ignorance or 
forgetfulness was the funniest thing in the world, and 
the joke of sitting before a juror who has declared 
that he would not believe a member of Camp No. 20 
under oath, seemed to tickle Mr. Foy hugely. Half 
an hour of the court's time, and about half a minute of 
the jury's attention, was devoted to Mr. Foy ere he 
took his departure. 

Mr. J. Kelly and A. J. Ford were equally as non- 
committal as the recording secretary had been, and 
the task of concealing all they knew proved more than 
they bargained for. Between them the fact leaked 
out that at the memorable meeting in February, Dr. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 219 

Cronin's name had been mentioned, and that O' Sullivan, 
the iceman, had said that the Doctor was a member of 
the V. O. D. and was introducing members of that 
order into the Clan-na-Gael. 

Of course Mr. Donahoe bridled up at the mention 
of his client, and the unfortunate witnesses squirmed 
visibly beneath the fierce looks of the attorney. The 
impressive manner in which Mr. Donahoe delivered 
himself of the parting salute "That's all," was cal- 
culated to terrify even a Clan-na-Gael. 

Stephen Colleran proved a veritable diamond in the 
rough for the prosecution. Mr. Colleran' s style of 
beauty is somewhat after the pattern of Martin Burke's. 
At the outset it was evident that Mr. Colleran had 
primed himself with a wholesale stock of forgetfulness 
and a large retail assortment of spirituous courage, but 
the glare of the court-room and the hundreds of eyes 
that met him on every side, proved too much for his 
tenacity as a know-nothing. 

The protest upon protest by Mr. Forrest that met 
every question put to the witness by Mr. Mills, made 
the examination excessively tedious, and also served to 
confuse the witness* into a welcome state of incoher- 
ency. As a friend of Coughlin, of Burke, of Cooney, 
of O' Sullivan and of John F. Beggs, it would have 
been strange if Mr. Colleran did not let fall something 
of importance to the prosecution. Hampered as Mr. 
Mills necessarily was from the fact that his examina- 
tion could not partake of the nature of cross-question- 
ing, he still managed to draw out of the witness some 
exceedingly damaging admissions. 



220 THE ORONIN CASE. 

Witness and Martin Burke were shown to have 
visited John F. Begg's office; Burke, Cooney, and 
Coughlin were seen together frequently by witness, 
and the missing Cooney was also located in the com- 
pany of the ex- detective a few hours prior to the lat- 
ter' s arrest. The witness was on the stand upward of 
an hour, and even after that length it was evident that 
he had by no means exhausted his fund of knowledge 
anent the accused men. The hour of adjournment 
happened fortunately at this time and a bed at the 
county's expense was provided for Mr. Colleran, beside 
which a stalwart guardian of the peace stood watch, 
lest any of the knowledge locked up in the breast of 
Mr. Colleran should succeed in getting away. The 
state could not 'spare Mr. Colleran yet. 

NO LIBERTY FOR WOODRUFF. 

At Ottawa, 111., on this date, in the Supreme Court, 
the petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which was sued 
for by Frank J. Woodruff, was denied. The substance 
of the decision is that the delay in trying Woodruff is 
his own fault, that he was on his own petition granted 
a separate trial from the others indicted with him for 
the murder of Dr. Cronin, and he must wait until the 
state is ready to try him. 



OHAPTEE XIV. 

October 30 and 31— Days of Excitement— War in Camp No. 20— 
Brave Captain O'Connor Scores The Triangle— Coughlin's 
Abuse of Dr. Cronin— Kinging Truths From Patrick 
McGarry — Beggs " Is Proud to be Alexander Sullivan's 
Friend "—Mr. Foster Kepudiates Forrest's Tactics— " Major '' 
Sampson Hits Back— Anything to Save Beggs. 

An exceptional day at the Cronin trial was Wed- 
nesday, October 30. The court room was exceptionally 
crowded, ladies were especially numerous, some of the 
witnesses were exceptionably talkative — from a Clan- 
na-Gael point of view — the testimony was exceptionally 
startling, and last, but not least, Mr. Forrest was 
exceptionally exceptional. When the record of this 
day's proceedings shall come before the Appellate 
Court — as it is evidently the foregone conclusion of 
the lawyers for the defense that it shall — the number 
of points raised by counsel for the defendants will 
make it a difficult task for the judges to handle the 
record without pricking their fingers. From the 
moment when the third tap of Bailiff Hackett's gavel 
announced that court was opened until the close of 
proceedings for the day, there was scarcely a moment 
when Mr. Forrest was not on his feet with a multi- 
tude of objections which he desired to place on the 
record. 

" If Forrest would instruct his stenographer to 
print in large letters ahead of every witness' testimony 
the word 'objection — overruled — exception,' it would 
save time," said one of the short-hand men who has 

(221) 



222 THE CRONIN CASE. 

found it difficult to keep sticking "objections" and 
"exceptions," into his notes like pins and needles into 
a pin cushion. 

The reasons for Mr. Forrest's objections were not 
difficult to perceive. Things looked exceptionally blue 
for his clients, Coughlin and Burke, and no one was 
surprised at his persistency in objecting to the process 
whereby the threads of circumstantial evidence were 
being woven into the resemblance to a stout hempen 
rope. Even the jury failed to see into Mr. Forrest's 
jokes and acrobatic exhibitions, and not a laugh 
rewarded his efforts. 

The first half hour after court convened promised 
well for a day of sensations. Mr. Longenecker set the 
ball rolling by asking for an attachment for Edward 
Spelman, of Peoria, the district officer of the Clan- 
na-Gael, who had disregarded a summons to appear as 
a witness for the state. The attachment was ordered 
to be issued, and Mr. Spelman will have official com- 
pany on his next visit to Chicago. 

Another of the numerous family of O'Connor, who 
seem to have been largely in the majority in Camp No. 
20, was put upon the stand. This Dennis O'Connor 
proved an unwilling witness, with no memory at all. 
He was put through an hour's catechism to show the 
extent of his ignorance of Camp No. 20 affairs, and as 
such an experiment he was a success. Next Colleran, 
the left-over witness of the previous night, came for- 
ward with increased reserve and the remains of his 
memory totally gone. From him nothing of advantage 
could be further obtained. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 223 

An improvement over his predecessors from Camp 
No. 20 was P. H. Nolan, the financial secretary of 
that body. He is a young man, and was evidently 
willing to tell all he knew. But unfortunately Mr. 
Nolan was more interested in attending to his cash 
books than in listening to the blatherskite patriots 
during the meetings of the camp. His recollection 
was, however, positive on the question of Beggs' fam- 
ous reply to the question by a member of the camp in 
reference to the report of the secret committee. "That 
committee must report to me alone," the senior guar- 
dian had said in the hearing of the witness, and despite 
an unusually severe cross-examination by Mr. Foster 
the witness stuck to his point most tenaciously. An 
attempt to confuse him by mixing up an investigating 
committee about a missing book with the secret com- 
mittee was likewise fruitless. Juror Allison, who 
appeared to see through the ruse, came to Mr. Nolan's 
assistance by asking whether he himself was not a 
member of the auditing committee, to which the wit- 
ness replied affirmatively, thus making it doubly clear 
that the secret committee mentioned by Beggs was not 
identical with the one of which witness was a member. 

And then came Captain Thomas F. O'Connor, and 
interest in the proceedings received a fresh impetus 
when he took the stand and told of the internal war in 
Camp No. 20. 

Captain O'Connor is a typical semi-military Irish- 
American. To hear the witness relate his experience 
in the Clan-na-Gael Camps was like listening to a 
gray-haired and limping veteran telling of bloody frays 



224 THE OBONIN CASE. 

and feats of daring on the battle-field. That such a 
mild-mannered man should Have struck the first open 
blow at a conspiracy, at whose struggle for existence 
the people of two continents looked on in awesome won- 
der, seemed incredible. Many times the lawyers for 
the defense called on the witness to speak louder -as he 
related the story. He told how he had visited the 
camp of his friend, Dr. Cronin, and had there heard 
the details of the gigantic conspiracy laid bare. 
The story of the wholesale robbery, and still more 
barbarous treachery, filled the old man's heart with 
horror and indignation. He told how he availed him- 
self of the first opportunity to denounce the Triangle; 
how his words had been met with a storm of abuse; 
and how, in the uproar, a blacker crime than any yet 
meditated had been born and added to the list, charge- 
able to the friends of the Triangle, and the vendetta of 
the inner circle was pronounced by the secret commit- 
tee against Dr. Cronin. 

Mr. Longenecker — Were you present at a meeting 
of the camp the night of February 8 ? Will you state 
whether you made a speech that night? A. — I did, 
sir. 

Q. — Did you hear a speech made by Andrew Foy on 
that occasion? A. — I did, sir. 

Q. — Will you state now what Andrew Foy said in 
his speech, or the substance of it? (Objected to and 
overruled.) A. — Andrew Foy arose in his place in the 
camp and addressed the senior guardian, and stated 
that he arose under a terrible strain. That after the 
disclosures of Le Caron in London the organization, as 



THE CRONIN CASE. 225 

an organization, was no more. That there were four 
British spies in the organization, and the organization 
should be reorganized and given a new name, and every 
one that was in the organization who had the slightest 
taint or suspicion attached to him should be expelled 
from the organization. That is as much of his speech 
as I can remember. 

Q. — Now, what did you say? A. — When he got 
through I arose to my feet and I stated that I was not 
at all surprised at hearing the gentleman talk as he 
had done; that I knew by positive information that 




CAPT. THOS. F. O'CONNER. 

the organization was run by a parcel of rogues known 
as our executive body; that they had squandered our 
funds even to the extent of $100,000; and not alone 
that, but they sent our best men across to England to 
have them put behind British bars ; and now I state 
positively that Le Caron was an agent of our executive 
body and received pay from them. At that moment I 
was interrupted by two or three brothers with a de- 
mand to tell where I got my information. I did not 
like the first brother who spoke to me, and I said: 
"You demand nothing." Then there were two or three 

15 



226 THE CRONIN CASE. 

others that demanded to know where I got my infor- 
mation, and there was a general uproar at the time. 
So I turned around to the senior guardian and I said: 
"If the senior guardian demands of me where I got 
my information I will tell him." He did not say any- 
thing. Then there was more uproar. I turned a 
second time and a third time, and said if the senior 
guardian would demand of me where I got my infor- 
mation I would tell him. Then I stated that I had heard 
a terrible report of the entire trial committee in Buf- 
falo, and that I had also seen a written report, 300 
pages of closely written long-hand about the trial, and 
that I was positive of my statement. At that instant 
Daniel Coughlin, a member of the camp, arose to his 
feet and said: "Mr. Guardian, I move you that a secret 
committee of three be appointed to find out the source 
of Capt. O'Connor's information." Those were his 
words. Then there was some one else on his feet, and 
the senior guardian rapped the -camp to order, as it 
was such a tumultuous time — such turmoil — and some- 
body spoke, and he said: "I will hear no more of this 
subject, and I will appoint a committee." That was all. 

Q. — Who was the senior guardian at that time? 
A. — John F. Beggs. 

Q. — Do you know the names of the persons who de- 
manded to know where you got your information ? A. 
— Mr. McNulty, Brother Ironton, John Currey, and 
Tom Murphy. 

Q. — The treasurer of the camp? A. — Yes, sir. 

When Mr. Foster undertook to cross-examine Capt. 
O'Connor, every word of the colloquy between lawyer 



THE CRONIN CASE. 227 

and witness was attentively weighed by the jury. As 
an exculpation of the senior guardian, Mr. Foster 
drew out from the witness the statement that Beggs 
had at a subsequent date told him to tell everything he 
knew. But when the witness was proceeding to comply 
with such instructions, and had started to tell of mat- 
ters previous to the appointment of the trial committee, 
the lawyer cut him short with the remark that he did 
not care to hear the stale history of the Clan na-Gael. 

" But the history of fraud and embezzlement was 
also called stale," interposed Mr. Hynes, and the 
unspoken history which the judge would not allow to 
be introduced stood out more glaringly against the 
accused than if the witness had recited its minutest 
detail. 

Captain O'Connor's testimony was closely followed 
by the jury. The prisoners smiled when he delivered 
his speech the second time while under cross-examina- 
tion, but to the rest they listened attentively and looked 
serious enough. Coughlin was an especially careful 
auditor. His flippant air was entirely abandoned. 
Beggs, too, was impressed with the testimony; his face 
wore a clouded look, was flushed, and his manner par- 
ticularly intent. Burke chewed gum as usual, but the 
blood in his face was more conspicuous than ever. 
O' Sullivan was stolid as a graven image; this evidence 
concerned him but little, as he was not present at either 
of the meetings. 

The defense cross-examined Captain O'Connor on the 
"constitution" of the order, as if any association 
whose founder was not graduative for a mad-house 



228 THE CBONIN CASE. 

would make secret murder one of the provisions of its 
charter, or as if the accursed Iago who worked the 
Triangle, who stole a million of dollars from his coun- 
trymen, who bluffed Egan after a six days' discussion 
out of $100,000, who caused the records to be burned, 
who was twice charged with incendiarism, and had 
murdered some and threatened others, would stop at 
murder to work out his damnable and diabolical schemes. 

Still another of the O'Connor family — Henry O. — 
was called to state the circumstances attending the 
appointment of the secret committee. The scene on 
February 22 was again described, and at that meeting 
Dan Coughlin told the witness that Dr. Cronin was a 
British spy. Mr. H. O. O'Connor left the camp prior 
to the appointment of the committee, and thus dis- 
proved a theory sought to be established by the defense, 
that the only committee appointed that night was one 
selected early in the evening, notwithstanding that the 
minutes showed otherwise. 

In detail the conversation of the witness with Cough- 
lin was given: 

Q. — Did you, during that meeting, have a talk with 
Daniel Coughlin — the defendant, Daniel Coughlin? 
A — I had a short conversation with him. I was put- 
ting my overcoat on at the inner door and Coughlin 
came up to me. He said to me that information had 
been received in Chicago to the effect that a confeder- 
ate of Le Caron was among us. He went on to state, 
furthermore, that the indications were that the man 
was Dr. Cronin. I stopped him at that point. I said 
to him that if he wished to look for the confederates 



THE CRONIN CASE. 229 

of Le Caron, he should look to the men in whose 
interest Le Caron had been used in packed conventions 
and through fraudulent credentials. 

Q. — Did you call the man by name? A. — I did not, 
sir. The conversation stopped immediately at the 
close of my remarks. 

Officer John Collins, who has proved a " Samson" in 
demolishing the castles of the Clan-na-Gael Philistines, 
was called next and fully corroborated the matters 
sworn to by other members of the camp. He was 
present during the delivery of, and excitement caused 
by Capt. O'Connor's speech. He was present at the 
reunion and heard Powers and McGarry attack the 
Triangle, and he heard John F. Beggs' reply, wherein 
the senior guardian referred to Alexander Sullivan as 
his friend, and said that these attacks on the ex-execu- 
tive must cease or there would be war, emphasizing 
his remarks by striking his breast, and this declaration 
was heartily applauded by many present. 

The next witness was Patrick McGarry, who made 
his name famous by his evidence on this day. His 
testimony threw the perjurers and traitors in the shade 
and gave new tone to the entire proceedings. His 
words were withering on Alexander Sullivan. With 
all the power of a cyclone he caught up the disap- 
pointed and discredited man, and carried him clear 
away in his courage of denunciation, tore him into 
shreds and dashed him contemptously to the ground. 
A scene like that when McGarry was giving his evi- 
dence has rarely been witnessed in a court of justice. 
The audience was electrified, the prisoners winced and 



230 THE CRONIN CASE. 

squirmed, and even their counsel were chilled for the 
time being. When the whole matter was over, Mr. 
Forrest said, in a voice that seemed to speak from the 
transom of Edgar Allan Poe's chamber door: "It is 
dangerous to let these orators have their innings," and 
well he might say so, for in the short space of time that 
Mr. McGarry held the chair he blasted the hopes of the 
defense most terribly. It was an Irishman who spoke, 
and a man of most unusual force of character. He 
scouted the idea that this murder had been committed, 
as was whispered around by the plotters and their 





PATRICK DINAN. PATRICK MCGARRY. 

tools, by the United Order of Deputies. He spoke of 
the duties of Irishmen to America as the country of 
their adoption, and his views so accurately represented 
the great mass of the people that men rushed forward, 
when he was done, from all directions, to grasp his 
hand. 

Mr. McGarry, after stating that he was a member of 
the United Brotherhood and that he had been present 
at a meeting of Camp No. 20 — a reunion — on the night 



THE CRONIN CASE. 231 

of February 22, in reply to the question: " What did 
you do on that occasion?" answered: "I said in reply, 
when I was called on — that there were three gentle- 
men who had made speeches or remarks before me." 

Q. — Who were they? A. — One was Francis A. 
Colby, another was O'Neil Kussell, and the other I am 
not positive about, but to the best of my recollection 
it was Dr. P. H. Conway. I am not positive about 
him, but the other two I am. One referred to the 
unity that ought to exist among the members of the 
organizations, and amongst the Irish race in general, 
altogether. The other gentleman had referred — it was 
about the time that Le Caron had testified before the 
forgery commission in England — and it referred to 
spies getting into the organization. The other gentle- 
men had referred to how Irishmen came to this coun- 
try, and, becoming American citizens, sought to edu- 
cate their children — educate them first in the principles 
of American institutions : educate them also to have a 
lbve for their fathers' and forefathers' home. There 
was nothing in the Irish race, nothing in Irish history, 
that Irishmen ought to be ashamed of in America. In 
my remarks I said that I agreed with all that the 
three gentlemen had said. I said it was all very well 
to talk of unity, and that I wanted to see unity among 
the Irish people; but that there could not be unity 
while members of this organization would meet in back 
alleys and dark corners and villify and abuse men that 
had the courage to stand up and take treachery and 
robbery by the throat and strangle it. I said I was 
educating children ; that I was raising children, and 



232 THE CRONIN CASE. 

that as long as God allowed me to be over them I 
would educate them first in American principles ; that 
I also wanted to educate them so that if an opportunity 
came for them to strike a blow for Ireland's freedom 
that they would do so. I told them that they could 
not be too particular about getting members into the 
organization. That I had been investigating Le 
Caron's record. And I said that there were men in 
this organization that were worse than Le Caron, and 
that the man who gave Le Caron his credentials to go 
into the convention was a greater scoundrel than ever 
Le Caron could pretend to be. I said that I found 
out that Le Caron's camp did not exist for two years 
past; that they didn't have a meeting; that the junior 
guardian, as given in the directory, had not been in 
the town of Braid wood for two years; that he had been 
for over a year to Spring Valley. I said that they 
must have known that such a camp did not exist, only 
on paper. That was about the substance of my re- 
marks; I cannot remember everything that passed; but 
what I said was in reply to what the other gentlemen 
had said. 

Q. — Now, did John F. Beggs make a speech follow- 
ing yours? A. — Yes, sir. John F. Beggs said visit- 
ing members were coming in there, violating the hos- 
pitality of that camp, and it would have to be stopped. 
He said it was not right, that it was cowardly; and I 
wanted to interrupt him, but the presiding officer, the 
chairman, would not let me do so. I wanted to inter- 
rupt him when he used the word " cowardly." He said 
they came there to attack Alexander Sullivan, and it 



THE CRONIN CASE. 233 

was cowardly to attack any man behind his back, or who 
did not say so to his face. He said: " Alexander Sul- 
livan has strong friends in this camp;" and he slapped 
on his breast and said, " I am one of them." I got the 
floor afterward and I said the gentleman had said it 
was "cowardly." I wanted them to understand that I 
was no coward. That I would tell Alexander Sullivan, 
either there or on any other ground, what my opinion 
of him was, and that every man who knew me knew 
what that was. I said, " Why do you mention Alex- 
ander Sullivan's name? I have not mentioned it, 
and I have not heard it mentioned here, until the 
senior guardian mentioned it." I said, " I repeat that 
the man who gave Le Caron his credentials is a greater 
scoundrel than ever Le Caron pretended to be." I 
should also say that Beggs said, when he said that 
Alexander Sullivan had strong friends in that camp 
and he was one of them, " There shall be union 
and unity among the Irish people if it takes war to 
make it." 

Q. — Now, Mr. McGarry, did you see Patrick O'Sul- 
livan, the defendant, after the disappearance of Dr. 
Cronin? A. — Yes, sir, at his house, about 8 or 8:30 
o'clock. 

Q. — Was any one present? A. — Yes, sir. 

Q. — Who? A. — The lady who admitted me; and 
there were also four or five men sitting around the room. 

Q. — Will you state what you said to O' Sullivan, and 
what was said by him? A. — I told him that Dr. 
Cronin was missing; that I had been told that a man 
came to his office on Saturday evening at about 7:30 



234 THE CRONIN CASE. 

o'clock with a horse and buggy, and took the Doctor 
over to his ice house, to attend to a man who had been 
wounded by being thrown from the wagon and run 
over. I then asked him if that was the case. He said, 
"No." I asked if he did not know anything about it 
at all. He said, "No." I asked him did he make a 
contract with Dr. Cronin to attend to his men in case 
of an accident. He answered me, "Yes.*' I then said 
to him: "That looks suspicious." He said: "What 
is suspicious about it?" I said: "A man who only 
employs five or six men to employ a Doctor for a year 
to attend to his men in case of accident." I said: "I 
employ from twenty to fifty men, and am well ac- 
quainted with Dr. Cronin, and I never had any need 
to make such a contract with him or any other doctor 
to attend to my men." I said men working in a boiler 
shop are much more liable to get hurt than men 
working in an ice house. He said it was not so much 
on account of the men altogether as on account of the 
children, who were more likely to get hurt around an 
ice wagon than the men. They climbed up on the 
wagon and a piece of ice might fall upon them, or the 
ice tongs might fall upon them, and they would get 
hurt. Some person in the room at the time made the 
remark: "Don't you think the Order of Deputies has 
something to do with the disappearance of Cronin?" 
I said: "No, sir; the Order of Deputies is too honora- 
ble to have anything to do with that." I said: "If any 
one has anything to do with Cronin's disappearance, it 
is among his own kind of people, people of his own 
country and nationality." I said: "This is not the 



THE CRONIN CASE. 235 

first time his life has been attempted." Some question 
was asked then, if his life had been attempted before? 
I said, "Yes." I said if any one had attempted the 
life of Dr. Cronin, it comes nearer home. As I said, 
"It comes nearer home," I just happened to look at 
O'Sullivan and I saw his mouth twitch just so" (indi- 
cating). "I mean men of his own kind; men of his 
own country and nationality." And then it was the 
question was put about the Order of Deputies. 

Q. — Some one spoke about it? A. — Yes; and I said 
the Order of Deputies were too honorable to have any- 
thing to do with that. I said that this was not the first 
time his life was attempted. "Was an attempt made on 
his life before ?" was the question asked me; and I 
said, "Yes; some two or three years ago Dr. Cronin was 
called to attend a serious accident, such as this was 
represented to be, and he went up one flight of steps, 
and on entering the room did not like the appearance 
of the man on the bed, and said, "My God! did you 
bring me here to murder me ?' and he went down the 
steps two at a time." I said, "In my opinion this ac- 
cident was something like that." 

Q. — What did O" Sullivan say at that time? A. — I 
do not remember that he .said anything. 

Kunze, the little German prisoner, was very ill dur- 
ing the entire day, and after commencing to cross-ex- 
amine Mr. McGarry, it being nearly 4:30 o'clock, the 
court adjourned. 

On October 31, a broken, blood-smeared trunk, con- 
taining a lot of dirty cotton batting, was the chief 
object of interest at the trial. Judge, jurors, lawyers, 



236 THE CRONIN CASE. 

bailiffs, reporters and spectators all tried to get as good 
a view of it as was possible, but to the five men on trial 
it was nothing but an object of disgust, all turning 
away from it as the foul thing was dragged into court, 
and as it was carried past the prisoners' row the only 
man of the five who appeared to notice it was Kunze, 
lying very sick in his chair with his head propped on 
pillows. 

W. P. Hatfield, the salesman for A. H. Eevell & Co., 
who had sold the furniture to " J. B. Simmons," was the 
witness whose testimony was clinched by the introduc- 
tion of the broken trunk. Of all the articles selected 
haphazard by the mysterious tenant of the flat at No. 
117 Clark street, the trunk alone seemed to concern the 
purchaser. He had insisted upon its being a big trunk 
and a strong one, even the strap he bought had to be 
of extra strength. Mr. Hatfield told the jury how his 
customer had laid stress on the fact that th^ goods were 
only for temporary use, a statement that one glance at the 
trunk fully confirmed. The erratic methods adopted by 
the leading counsel for the defendants were not without 
many singular and somewhat amusing results during 
this session. That Mr. Forrest had succeeded in mak- 
ing the jury tired, had been patent for days; even Mr. 
Foster, the attorney for Beggs, showed his appreciation 
of the fact by a request he made to the court. After 
an unusually copious deluge of exceptions, objections, 
and other stereotyped interruptions by Messrs. Forrest 
and Donahoe, Mr. Foster addressed the court. 

"I wish the record to show that these numerous 
exceptions are not taken on behalf of the defendant 



THE CRONIN CASE. 237 

Beggs," said the attorney, and the grateful looks which 
beamed upon him from the jury box told that the point 
would be remembered in his client's behalf. 

The great feature of this day was the introduction 
of "Major " Sampson. He swore than Dan Coughlin 
had tried to engage him to "slug" Dr. Cronin. He 
proved himself a trump card for the prosecution, being 
the very kind of a man Coughlin would have sought 
out for such work. Mr. Forrest cross-examined him 
mercilessly on his record, and a very bad record it was. 
The "Major," who is a leader in the "sporting" line, 
was traced by the irate Forrest through a maze of 
crime and prisons and penitentiaries, and was finally 
described as a "shell-worker," or a kind of three-card 
monte man. 

He was just the kind of man Dan Coughlin needed, 
and he turned the tables badly upon the defense by 
knowing that Mr. Donahoe had once defended him 
when in a bad fix, and it is right to say that if he had 
killed Dr. Cronin he would have had the hearty help of 
the man who is now behind the defense. Indeed, he 
might have been nominated to a police captaincy or a 
berth in the City Hall. The "Major" was worthy of 
the Triangle and the Triangle of him. He gave some 
startling revelations of his life, and paralyzed the pris- 
oners and their sympathizers when Mr. Forrest, in 
cantering through his sins, turned up every deed in the 
catalogue of crime except that alone — in comparison 
with which there is not a deed more vile — that of cow- 
ardly assassination. 

Eight here was the Major's opportunity: 



238 THE CRONIN CASE. 

"You have been indicted, have you not?" asked 
Mr. Forrest. 

" But an indictment is a presumption of innocence, 
according to the statements of counsel to the jury," 
interposed Mr. Hynes. 

" Yes, but the shell business is a felony," retorted 
Mr. Forrest. 

"It ain't murder," shouted the "Major," from the 
witness chair. 

This was a stunner. It shot forth from the infuriated 
" Major " like a bolt from a clear sky. The criminal 
had scored his point, and Mr. Forrest fell back in his 
chair and the trianglers in court cursed low and deep. 

The scene was dramatic, the victory decisive. The 
"Major" had qualified himself for election to the Tri- 
angle, and he walked out, with his overcoat on his arm, 
smiling sardonically at the consternation he had caused. 

Apart from the evidence of Mr. Hatfield and the 
"Major," the day's proceedings were lacking in sensa- 
tional features, Mr. McGarry's statement about the 
former attempt on the life of Dr. Cronin being ruled 
out of the record, but, notwithstanding that the jury 
were taken out of the court during the controversy on 
that point, thanks to Mr. Donahoe, the objectionable 
evidence was repeated so often after the jury returned 
that they must have learned it by heart. 

Two witnesses from the Clan-na-Gael told of a con- 
versation with John F. Beggs wherein that person 
sought to establish the fact that Dan Coughlin was a 
protege of Dr. Cronin, and had been introduced by 
the latter into the Clan-na-Gael without the customary 



THE CRONIN CASE. 239 

formalities. Joseph O'Keefe and Cornelius Flynn, the 
two Irishmen whom the senior guardian of Camp 20 
had tried to impose upon with this story, repeated how 
they had disbelieved it and had quoted Dr. Cronin's 
statements in proof of their disbelief, 

The testimony of all these witnesses is useful in con- 
necting the circumstances upon which the state relies 
for conviction. It is plain, at this early date, that every 
effort is to be made to save Beggs, even at the expense 
of the other prisoners. As Beggs was nearest the 
source of power and walked arm-in-arm with the Iago 
when they both were attempting to dictate terms to the 
authorities at Washington, the Triangle are deter- 
mined that Beggs shall be saved, and saved he will be 
if the money, influence and brains of the plotters can 
compass that end. 



CHAPTEE XV. 

November 1 and 2— The Carlsons — Burke — O' Sullivan — That 
Letter — Bad Look-out for Burke — District Officer Edward 
Spelman — A Spell of Oblivion — Justice Mahoney — The Police 
There — The Fatal Cards— Very Warm for the Iceman — 
Burke Sees Inside The Trunk — Alexander Sullivan's Plea. 

The proceedings in court on November 1st made 
Burke's prospects for clearance from the charges 
against him look rather gloomy. 

John 0. Garrity gave testimony which fully sus- 
tained " Major " Sampson's evidence that Coughlin had 
tried to engage Sampson to " slug" Dr. Cronin. 

Martin McHale, the man who laid the carpet at 
No. 117 Clark street, identified the floor covering as 
the one found in the cottage. 

The great event of the day was the examination of 
the Carlson family. Mrs. Carlson positively identified 
Martin Burke as the Frank Williams who rented the 
cottage from her father-in-law. "There he is chew- 
ing," said the lady, pointing to Burke. She was 
corroborated by Jonas Carlson, the owner of the house, 
an old, rugged, sturdy Teuton, who gave very care- 
ful and conclusive evidence. He stated that the 
moment Frank Williams saw the interior of the house 
and counted the rooms he said: "You can have your 
money," which was then paid over and a receipt taken. 
Not only was Carlson able to positively identify Burke, 
but he was able to connect O'Sullivan with him. He 
said that on March 20, after Williams had rented the 
cottage, he saw him talking with the iceman back of 

(240) 



THE CKONIN CASE. 



241 



the latter' s barn. He heard Williams say to O'Sul- 
livan, u The cottage is rented." Williams had gone 
out of the front gate and back across the lot to where 
he met O' Sullivan. He never saw Williams again 
until May 4 at about 5 or 5 :30 in the afternoon. Wil- 
liams was then coming out of the front door of the 
cottage. The witness was standing on the sidewalk 
in front of the house. Williams said to him: "I 
guess I'll fix up a little; it's not too early." 




CHAS. CARLSON AND THE LETTER. 

" Did you have another conversation with P. O'Sul- 
livan?" " Yes, sir, on April 17 or 18. He came out 
to rig up his ice wagon, back of his barn. I went to 
him and asked him ' did he know any of those men 
who rented the cottage.' He said: 'No'; then he 
said: 'Yes, I know one of them; is the rent due?' 

16 



242 THE CRONIN CASE. 

I said 'No; it is not due till the 20th.' He said: 
' Well, I will pay it then,' " 

Then came the famous Frank William's letter, 
which Carlson identified as coming to him from 
Indiana. This letter is a remarkable one. Written 
in a clean but common-place hand, its diction was 
complete, and it evidently was the production of one 
accustomed to dictate letters to an amanuensis. It 
gave plausible reasons in excellent sentences and 
faultless words, but the orthography was horrid, and 
purposely aped illiteracy. It ran thus: 



for MR. CARLSON, 
No. 1872 Ashland avenue. 
In the rare. Chicago. 



In the body of the letter keys was spelled "kays," 
the word trouble was "truble," and the monosyllable 
" see " was written "cee." This letter was certainly 
dictated to the writer who signed "F. W." It was 
suspicious both in regard to its style and the obvious 
attempt to disguise the genius that lay behind it. Mr. 
Forrest, who led his colleagues in the burglarious 
attack on Carlson's cottage, cross-examined the old 
man. The irate old Teuton seemed to think that this 
was adding insult to injury. The audience plainly 
sympathized with the witness in his indignation. 

Mr. Mills asked Carlson: 

"How many times have you seen this man who 
called himself Frank Williams?" 

" Three times — twice near my house and " 



THE CR0NIN CASE. 



243 



"And once elsewhere. Did you see him in this 
room ?" 

Old man Carlson, acting on the suggestion of Mr. 
Mills, rose from his seat and moved forward toward 
the prisoners, hat in hand. He moved slowly, scan- 
ning carefully every face coming within the immediate 
field of his vision. When at last he got near the table 




JONAS CARLSON IDENTIFIES BURKE. 

at which the defendants' counsel sat his eye suddenly 
rested on Burke. 

Without a word he waved his hat in his direction 
and turned to retake his seat. This gesture and the 
instantaneous change of his expression from one of 
intense earnestness, miDgled with perplexity, to one of 
satisfaction and relief, were the only indications he gave 
till he retook his seat that he recognized in Burke the 
Frank Williams of March 20 and May 4. But that 
was sufficient. Everybody in the court-room recog- 



244 THE CRONIN CASE. 

nized that the identification was complete Burke as 
keenly as any one. 

The jury needed no words to make it certain whom 
it was the old man recognized, but these subtle scenes 
that impress the onlooker are beyond the stenographer's 
art to impart into the record. For the purpose of get- 
ting it there, and that alone, Mr. Hynes asked the wit- 
ness if it was the defendant Burke that he recognized 
as Williams. But the mute scene had been too effect- 
ive for even the attorneys for the defense to try to 
combat, and in the same breath Mr. Forrest and Judge 
Wing hastened to say they admitted it was Burke the 
witness identified. 

Mr. Mills could not have arranged' a more effec- 
tive finale for his examination, and he ended it right 
there. 

Charles J. Carlson was the first witness called on 
Saturday, Nov. 2. In reply to Mr. Hynes he told the 
story previously related by his wife, Mrs. Annie Carl- 
son, of Burke's calling to rent the cottage on March 
20. Burke had told witness of brothers and a sister 
who would occupy the cottage with him. At dusk that 
evening a load of furniture was brought, and a stranger, 
who resembled J. B. Simmons, helped to carry the 
things in doors. Until April 20, the house remained 
locked and deserted, and on that date Burke appeared 
again with the second month's rent. At that time he 
asked young Carlson to assist him in removing some 
goods left by a former tenant, and the glimpse of the 
interior furnishing enabled Carlson to identify the 
things described in Hatfield's invoice. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 245 

The night of May 4, witness went to bed early, and 
was therefore in ignorance of the tragedy enacted 
within a few feet of where he lay, until two weeks 
later, when, on receipt of the letter from Hammond, 
Ind., he, with his father, entered the cottage by the 
front windows. The ghastly evidences of crime which 
were there found, the witness fully described. 

Kunze's name was mentioned by the prosecuting at- 
torneys for the first time since testimony began to be 
taken. A week or so after the murder, young Carlson 
saw a man prowling around the back of the cottage, but 
he could not identify the German prisoner as the man. 
On cross-examination Mr. Forrest drew from the 
witness that since June he had been under police pro- 
tection, and that he expecfted to be paid for his time. 
Mrs. Jonas Carlson, mother of Charles, followed. 
She collected the rent from Burke on April 20th, and 
asked him at that time why he kept the house always 
locked up. He told her the same story he had told 
to others, of his sick sister unable to travel. 

Q. — Now, did any one come there after that time and 
see you in reference to the rent, and, if so, when? A. — 
There came a fellow the second week — Wednesday — 
the second week after the 4th of May. He said, "Mr. 
Frank Williams sent me here to pay the rent." Then 
I said, "We do not want to take any more rent now, 
before the people move in." He said, " The woman is 
sick." " Well," said I, " cannot help it; we do not take 
any more rent before they move in. We do not like to 
have it empty." I told him we wanted to put up the 
place for sale, and he said, " Cannot you put the place 



246 THE ORONIN CASE. 

for sale and we have the rooms, anyhow?" I said, 
" No; for they cannot come in a house and look at it if 
it is rented." 

Her evidence could not be shaken by the best efforts 
of Mr. Forrest's will in cross-examination. The next 
witness furnished the most important link yet found 
to bind the tenant of the Carlson cottage with the man 
who bought the furniture of Revell & Co., directly 
after the appointment of the secret committee in Camp 
No. 20. 

Hakan Mortensen, the Swedish expressman, testi- 
fied that some time late in March he had been ap- 
proached by a man who wanted a light load of furniture 
removed from South Clark street to Lake View, Morten- 
sen having his stand near the East Chicago avenue police 
station. The frequency with which this point was 
brought out seemed anything but pleasant to Coughlin, 
who sat with bowed head through the examination. 
That Burke, the day laborer, was able to travel in a 
buggy was shown by the witness, and the fact that he 
had a plentiful supply of funds was also disclosed when 
he came to pay the expressman's bill. From the flat 
at No. 117 Clark street to the Carlson cottage at No. 
1872 Ashland avenue, the testimony of Mortensen was 
direct and decisive. Two or three times subsequent to 
the transfer of the furniture the witness saw Burke, 
and always he was hovering about the East Chicago 
avenue police station, where Dan Coughlin had his 
headquarters. 

So important did this connecting link, presented by 
the witness, appear in the eyes of the attorneys for the 



THE CRONIN CASE. 247 

defense, that a strong effort was made to minimize its 
value by postponing the cross-examination until Mon- 
day, November 4th, but Judge McConnell would not 
allow this, despite Mr. Forrest's assertions that it would 
be lengthy. To discredit witness' memory by showing 
his recollection of other cartage in March and April, 
proved a boomerang to the defending counsel. Witness 
had picked out Martin Burke from a line of fifty men 
in the Winnipeg jail, and that circumstance alone had 
refreshed his memory on the incidents of last March 
to a degree not called forth by any other occurrence of 
his life. Honestly confessing that he did not remem- 
ber any other loads he had carted before or since the 
journey between Clark street and Ashland avenue, the 
witness held the minutest detail of his previous testi- 
mony, and even the admission that he was now in the 
employ of the city left his evidence just where the 
prosecution wanted it — unimpeachable and vitally im- 
portant. 

The court adjourned until Monday morning, Novem- 
ber 4th. 

As an exponent of the value of a negative, District 
Officer Edward Spelman, of Peoria, 111., who was the 
first witness on Monday morning, November 4, is en- 
titled to leading honors. 

Said a prominent Clan-na-Gael man of the Cronin 
persuasion, when Mr. Spelman's name was called, 
"Now you will see a great double feat of running with 
the hare and hunting with the hounds." 

While the average Triangle Clan-na-Gael man's 
amount of forgetfulness would fill a volume, that of 



248 THE CRONIN CASE. 

District Officer Edward Spelman, who is second in rank 
only to the members of the executive body, would 
make an entire public library. An effort to keep tally 
on the witness' negative answers had early to be 
abandoned. Beginning with the denial of the exist- 
ence of such a society as the Clan-na-Gael, the dis- 
tinguished distiller from Peoria soon proved that 
wherever the ghost of a denial might prove of service 
to the defense and harmful to the prosecution, the 
witness had a dozen negatives ready to answer. After 
swearing that no Clan-na-Gael existed, or that the 
United Brotherhood had been called by that name in 
his hearing, he denied that any one in the order had 
higher powers than himself; he denied knowledge of 
the personnel of the executive body; he denied any 
knowledge of the correspondent to whom certain let- 
ters in his hand-writing had been addressed; he denied 
the statement that Beggs had told him that the subject 
of correspondence between them had been alluded to; 
he denied having talked with Coughlin about Cronin on 
the occasion of the detective's visit to his town; he de- 
nied the truth of his sworn statement before the grand 
jury; in fact, there was little that the state's attorney 
could ask the Peoria man which the latter was not 
ready to deny. 

Being called upon to explain his absence and change 
of memory, the witness was obliged to depart from his 
stereotyped denials and admit that he had called upon 
Alexander Sullivan in the interval between swearing 
about Coughlin's statements and warning the state's 
attorney that his memory had played him false. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 249 

Mr. Longenecker — " I will state that he made his 
statement before the grand jury. I called him as a 
witness in this case and I expect him to make a state- 
ment in regard to this matter on the stand. He is under 
oath again. (To witness) — Did you not before the 
grand jury state that you did have a conversation with 
Daniel Coughlin? " A. — I did; I want to go into it 
fully, too; that question is not answered yet. 
. Q. — In which you stated before the grand jury under 

oath that Coughlin said: "Oronin was a 

(using one of the vilest names) and ought to be 



killed ; and that he so stated to you when in Peoria. 
Did you not so testify? A. — I did not say that to the 
grand jury as the district attorney puts it to me. I 
said that in the conversation with Coughlin at Peoria 

he said Cronin was a (here witness 

repeated the epithet), but on reflection and on consul- 
tation with the other two men present, I sent my attor- 
ney to Chicago to notify the district attorney that I 
was mistaken. My attorney was unable to find Mr. 
Lougenecker, so I came myself specially to Chicago 
and notified Judge Longenecker and the other counsel 
that if they asked me that question on the stand I 
should have to deny it in order to do justice to my own 
self and to the facts. (Here the audience in audible 
murmurs expressed their disgust at the answer. ) 

Q. — Had you seen Alexander Sullivan before coming 
to my office? A.— Yes, sir. I met a party on the 
streets and he said that Mr. Sullivan was talking 
about me harshly. I called on Mr. Sullivan and told 
him — 



250 THE CftONlN CASK 

Mr. Forrest — " I object to this conversation on the 
street." 

The Court — "I am going to rule on the whole matter 
later." 

A change came over the district officer from Peoria 
when subjected to the catechising process by the at- 
torney for Beggs. Even such a simple matter as the 
number of senior and junior guardians who attended a 
meeting at Plasterers' Hall, which in response to the 
state's attorney, Mr. Spelman denied his ability to even 
approximately guess, when asked the same question by 
Mr. Foster, his memory was suddenly rejuvenated and 
served him with wonderful promptness and exactness. 

The Beggs-Spelman letters, which have been hover- 
ing around the door of the record demanding admis- 
sion, were finally received in court. The letters, of 
themselves, will be argued to mean everything, any- 
thing, or nothing, when the time for speech-making 
comes. As a sample of ambiguous phrase, capable of 
being translated any way, the following is worthy of 
quotation. In his third letter to Spelman Beggs says: 
"The matter I wrote of, I would let pass if I could, 
but I was ordered to notice it." Whether " the matter " 
was the removal or the investigation of Dr. Cronin, or 
whether the power ordering the senior guardian was 
the secret committee or the power all-powerful at the 
head, the jury will be left to decide. They will cer- 
tainly hear both explanations to their full content. 

WHAT CAUSED THE CHANGE IN SPELMAN? 

This was a question asked on all sides, and though 
speculations were rife it remained for an old acquaint- 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



251 



ance of his to give what he claims to be the only cor- 
rect answer. 

" The truth of the whole matter is simply this," said 
this acquaintance of Mr. Spelman, in discussing the 
reckless, brazen effrontery of the man in thus eating 
his own words and denying notorious facts: 

"Spelman has been brought into line just as Beggs 
and hundreds of others were, by this arch-conspirator. 
It is an old trick of this great Tri angler to look up 





DISTRICT OFFICER SPELMAN. 



'MAJOR" SAMPSON. 



every man's record with whom he comes in contact. 
John F. Beggs came to Chicago after serving his term 
in the Ohio penitentiary, resolved to lead an honest 
life. For a while he succeeded. Then came the hand 
of the Triartgler, tore his mask of honesty from his 
face, and threatened to expose his past career unless he 
bowed before the Triangle. Beggs succumbed. The 
same scheme was tried with Dr. Cronin, and it only 
failed because in all the Doctor's career he had not one 
deed to be ashamed of. Now the case is exactly simi- 
lar with regard to Edward Spelman. It seems that 
Spelman's Canadian record has been of such a charac- 



252 THE CRONIN CASE. 

ter as would not bear the broad light of day. This 
Triangler said to Spelman: "Go on the stand for the 
prosecution and give testimony against my friends and 
I will make known your Canadian history.' Like 
Beggs, Spelman succumbed." 

A relief from the know-nothingism of the district 
officer from Peoria was the testimony of Justice 
Mahoney, of Lake View, the man quoted by O' Sulli- 
van as his introducer to Dr. Cronin. The witness was 
evidently determined to tell all he knew about the fam- 
ous contract, and that " all " was far too much for 
O' Sullivan's welfare. The fact that Dr. Cronin and 
O'Sullivan were well acquainted prior to the latter ask- 
ing Mr. Mahoney to introduce him to the Doctor was 
clearly shown. The iceman's anxiety to make it appear 
that the contract with Dr. Cronin was based on purely 
philanthropic motives, the startling outline of the first 
steps of the tragedy disclosed by a repetition of the 
conversation between the Doctor and the iceman at the 
time of making the contract — all these were told by 
the witness in a manner that carried conviction to every 
one within earshot, and even convincing Lawyer Dona- 
hoe that the briefer was the cross-examination the bet- 
ter it would be for his client. 

Mrs. Addie J. Farrar told of his words in relation 
to the murder. He had called on her just after Dr. 
Cronin's body was found, to secure her order for ice. 
She spoke of the terrible topic to O'Sullivan. In her 
own words: " I said: ' Why it was fearful to decoy a 
person away and murder him in that manner." Mr. 
O'Sullivan did not speak for a few minutes; then he 



THE CRONIN CASE. 253 

said: "They say he was a British spy." I replied: 
" Well, why should they kill him even if he was a 
spy?" Mr. G'Sullivan said: " He gave away the 
secrets of a secret order, and if a man did that he 
ought to be killed; if he did that he has got no more 
than he deserved." I said that if he did he was 
another Morgan. He said: "Such men get their just 
deserts." 

Attorney Donahoe tried hard to make witness say 
that O'Sullivan referred to the newspapers as "they" 
who said Cronin was a spy, but the witness refused to 
admit the saving clause. 

Ex-Officers Steib, O'Eeilly, Smith and Hayden, 
formerly of the Lake View police, described the horse, 
wagon, and trunk they had seen toward midnight on 
May 4, their testimony being in the main identical 
with the story so often told. Private Watchman Way. 
who met the trio of conspirators almost in the act of 
unloading the trunk of its horrible contents, described 
the spokesman of the party as a thick-set fellow, a 
description which would not tally with any of the- 
prisoners. The court adjourned and Nov. 5, being 
election day and a legal holiday, no session was held 
upon that date. 

Wednesday morning, November 6, the state com- 
pleted the circle of the story of the murder proper — 
the overt acts that constituted the committing the 
crime. 

The manner of discovering the trunk was told this 
morning by three young Germans who had gone to 
Edgewater early on the Sunday morning, May 5, to 



254 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



practice shooting. Returning they found the trunk, 
the blood still fresh in the bottom of it and the cotton 
saturated with it. The lid lay at a distance from the 
box, which was near the fence. The young men 
carried the box to the road-side that it might be seen, 
and pursued their way. They identified the trunk in 
the court-room as the one they found. Captain Vil- 
liers testified to the trunk being the same, and to its 
being in the condition stated by those who found it. 




*av 



THE COFFIN-TRUNK IN COURT. 

Being questioned about the condition of some of the 
streets, he said of one reported to have been traveled 
over by the wagon that it was sandy. 

"There would be no difficulty traveling over it with 
a light wagon with a trunk in it?" asked Mr. Forrest. 

"And three big men in it?" added Mr. Longe- 
necker. 

"Four big men," interposed Mr. Hynes. 



THE CEONIN CASE. 255 

"Three," said Forrest. "Where's the fourth?" 

"In the trunk," retorted Mr. Hynes. 

Printer Robert T. Stanton, testified that he printed 
the cards for Patrick O' Sullivan in April and that they 
were delivered on May 2. The defense cross-examined 
Mr. Stanton interminably, but only succeeded in fixing 
the date as stated more positively. 

Officer Phillips, who, with Captain Wing and Officer 
O'Malia, went with the patrol wagon to get the trunk 
from the roadside, first described its condition; then 
Captain Wing told of its passing to him from Captain 
Villiers and his turning it over to the coroner; next 
Officer O'Malia explained its appearance and all three 
officials identified the trunk in evidence as being the 
same one to which they referred. After the body was 
found in the catch-basin on May 22, and its possible 
connection with the trunk, found nearly three weeks 
before, had been suggested, officers were sent to secure 
more of the cotton batting that was found with the 
body. A quantity of it, wet and muddy, was put in a 
bucket by Officers Phillips and Spangler, and delivered 
to Captain Wing. By him the bucket with its con- 
tents was placed in the trunk. As the moisture evap- 
orated the bucket grew dry and fell to pieces. Officer 
Phillips identified the wreck of staves and hoops as 
the pail he had used. 

This officer proved a valuable witness on another 
point. He was sent to P. O' Sullivan's house on the 
day after the finding of the body to bring that person 
to Captain Schuettler at the Lake View police station. 
As they left O'Sullivan's premises through the barn, 



256 THE CRONIN CASE. 

the iceman saw some officers and others seeming 
about to enter the Carlson cottage. As though his 
conscience and his fears momentarily got the better of 
his discretion, he said to the officer: "What in h — 1 
are they going in there for, the d — d fools." 

Evidence implicating Kunze was introduced just 
before the court adjourned. William L. James, a six- 
teen-year-old boy, testified and identified Kunze as one 
of the occupants, in March, of the flat at No. 117 South 
Clark street. From the window of his father's office, 
in the Opera House building, the lad had often 
looked out on the street below and at the opposite 
buildings. He had seen the occupants of this flat at 
different times, and once saw Kunze washing his feet 
in front of the window. 

Chief of Police Hubbard, Ex-Capt. Michael J. 
Schaack and Acting Capt Herman Schuettler were the 
principal witnesses examined on November 7th, and 
the result of their united efforts as disclosed in court 
was a piece of plank, about one and a half foot square, 
chopped out of the floor of the Carlson cottage. This 
piece of board had been painted by the former occu- 
pants of the house, and the imprint of stocking feet 
showed where some one had walked across the fresh 
paint. Whose the footprints were, whether the foot 
belonged to a conspirator or to an early visitor after the 
paint was laid, was not disclosed by the testimony. 

Prior to the appearance of these police officials 
Milkman Mertes testified that on the night of May 4th, 
he was passing the Carlson cottage when he saw a horse 
and buggy stop in front of the house. A tall man 



THE CBONIN CASE. 257 

jumped from the buggy, ran up the steps of the cot- 
tage, opened the door with a key and entered, stepping 
off with the left foot first. The man wore a brown 
overcoat, had stooping shoulders and dark hair. All 
these details came under the eyes of the milkman, while 
at the same time he stood staring full in the eyes of the 
other man who remained in the buggy, who stared in 
return for a few minutes, then whipped up his horse and 
drove away. Mr. Mertes identified John Kunze as the 
driver of the buggy and Dan Coughlin as the man who 
entered the cottage. Coroner Hertz identified the 
trunk in court as the trunk. 

Then P. O'Sullivan received one more blow. Detec- 
tive Murray, of the Pinkerton Agency, was called on 
professionally by Mr. Conklin on May 5th. He went 
for Mr. O'Sullivan and took him to Mr. Conklin's house. 

Q. — Did you speak to him about some one having 
come over from his place for a doctor? A. — I did, 
sir. He said he had not sent auybody to the Doctor's 
residence. I then asked him about the contract. He 
stated that he was down town one day near the City 
Hall and there met Justice Mahoney. In conversation 
with him he asked him whom he knew to be a good 
doctor. He answered, Dr. Cronin. He asked him if 
he would go with him to Dr. Cronin' s office, and 
Mahoney said "yes," and went with him. 

It will be remembered that Justice Mahoney swore 
that he met O'Sullivan in Lake View and went down 
town with him to the Doctor's office. 

Captain Schaack swore that O' Sullivan told him on 
May 28, that he was not out of the house on the night 



258 THE CRONIN CASE. 

of May 4. Soon after he was placed in jail he sent 
for the Captain and said that he was out that night 
but only went as far as the wagon sheds. He told 
Schaack once that he had been acquainted with Dr. 
Cronin for six or seven years, and again he told him 
that he had just met the Doctor at the Washington 
Literary Club, two weeks before the last spring 
elections. 

The testimony of Captain Schaack was particularly 
damaging to O' Sullivan, but it also indirectly affected 
Coughlin and Kunze. This was brought out by the 
defense in toying with that dangerous factor, cross- 
examination. Schaack testified that Coughlin and 
Kunze had been working together on the , Lynch 
distillery explosion case, and in telling just how 
Kunze worked, the witness gave a portrait, not flatter- 
ing, but true, of the character of the little German. 

In reply to Mr. Donahoe's question if Coughlin 
and Kunze were not working together on the dis- 
tillery case, the Captain replied: 

" Tes, against my orders." 

"But you knew they were working together, 
didn't you? " persisted Donahoe, not knowing when to 
let go. 

"Yes, Kunze said he saw the man that threw the 
bomb in Lynch' s distillery, and kicked up a lot of 
monkey business about it, and then went down to 
Peoria and got into a fuss at the hotel and carried on 
like a fool generally." 

During the afternoon the trunk was again identi- 
fied by Captain Schuettler. When he first saw it at 



THE ORONIN CASE* 259 

the Lake View police station he put on it a private 
mark for identification. In looking for this mark, in 
the court-room he turned the trunk upon end, expos- 
ing the inside to the view of the prisoners. When 
Burke saw the blood-stains in it and the pieces of gore- 
clotted batting, his face changed color; his cheeks and 
temples flushed crimson and then became an ashen hue. 
Superintendent of Police Hubbard was called to trace 
the custody of the trunk and its adjuncts, the lock and 
key, from the time they came into his possession until 
handed over to the state's attorney. Then these arti- 
cles were offered in evidence by the prosecutor, of 
course over the objections of the attorneys for the 
defense, and court was adjourned. 

ALEXANDER SULLIVAN'S PLEA. 

After the adjournment of the court State's Attorney 
Longenecker was served with a notice by a clerk in the 
employ of Duncan & Gilbert, attorneys for Alexander 
Sullivan, that they would apply in Judge Baker's court 
the next morning to have their client discharged from 
bail under which he has been held since the finding of 
the coroner's jury. The clerk was most particular 
about the time at which service was rendered. Mr. 
Longenecker remarked good-naturedly to the clerk: 
" Well, I can tell you that I cannot attend to this case 
to-moirow. I have more important business on hand. 
I shall resist the motion, undoubtedly. I am not going 
to let Alexander Sullivan go without bail until this 
Cronin case is disposed of, if I can help it. Say that 
to Senator Duncan for me." 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

Dr. Cronin's Clothes Found— Fished From a Sewer— All Recov- 
ered but His Purse and Watch — Thieves as Well as Assas- 
sins — Alexander Sullivan's Application, November 8— Cough- 
lin, Kunze, O'Sulhvan and Cooney in Close Confab — Agaiu 
the Decoy Cards — Experts Testify on November 9— The Chief 
Triangler's Bondsmen Released — November 11 — Burke's Tin 
Box— The " Inner Circle "-O'Sullivan's Doctor— The Cloth- 
ing in Court. 

About 2 o'clock on the afternoon of November 8, the 
clothes worn by Dr. Cronin on the night of his murder, 
his box of splints and satchel of surgical instruments, 
and other personal and professional belongings, were 
discovered at the bottom of a man-hole at Evanston 
and Buena avenues. 

The separate articles found were: The iron framework 
of a large valise, box of physician's splints, hand 
satchel filled with surgical instruments and medica- 
ments, pocket case of instruments, doctor's prescription 
book, small case with apparatus for hypodermical injec- 
tions, suit of fine balbriggan underclothing — shirt and 
drawers, white shirt, linen collar, large soft felt hat, 
pair of half hose, pair dark pants, large Prince Albert 
coat, vest, light spring overcoat. 

The only things missing that were known to have 
been on the person of Dr Cronin when he left his 
office on the night of May 4 on his ostensible errand 
of mercy, are his shoes, his gold watch and chain, and 
his personal letters and papers. 

Like the finding of the body of the murdered patriot, 
the finding of his clothes and effects came about by the 

(260) 



THE CRONIN CASE. 261 

merest accident. The entrance to the sewer at Evans- 
ton and Buena avenues was reported clogged up, and a 
party of cleaners were dispatched to remove the 
obstruction. Two of this party, Keis and Gilbert, 
were the men who fished out with their hoes and rakes 




THE POCKET INSTRUMENT CASE. 

(one of them going down into the man-hole), the clothes, 
box of splints, etc. 

The man-hole is in the center of Evanston avenue, 
situated about one hundred feet north of Buena ave- 
nue, about a mile south of the catch-basin at Fifty- 
ninth street and Evanston avenue, where the body of 
the murdered doctor was found, and only a square or 




SURGICAL INSTRUMENT SATCHEL. 

more distant from the vacant lot where the bloody trunk 
was discovered. 

Michael Gilbert telephoned at once to the Lake View 
water department. From there word was sent to Lieut- 
enant Larch at the old Lake View police station. This 
official communicated at once with Chief Hubbard, and 



262 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



received word to bring the effects to the Chiefs office 
at the City Hall. By 4 o'clock most of the personal 
belongings in the possession of Dr. Cronin at the time 
of his murder were lying on the big green-covered 
table in Chief Hubbard's private office. From there 
they were conveyed to the state's attorney's office in the 
criminal court building, and there laid out on a long 
canvas stretcher. 

By the time the things arrived at the state s attor- 
ney's office Mrs. Conklin, who had been sent for in the 
meantime, was on hand and ready to identify the Doc- 
tor's effects. As the pocket case of physician's instru- 
ments and the prescription-book both contained the 
name of Dr. Cronin, Mrs. Conklin's identification, 
though complete and convincing, was scarcely necessary. 
The pocket-case of instruments contained on its black 
leather exterior the following inscripion in gold letters: 



PRESENTED 

BY 

WILLIAM BAGNALL 

TO 

DR. P. HARRY CRONIN. 



The memorandum book had written on its fly leaf, 
in the Doctor's bold hand-writing, "Dr. P. H. Cronin." 
In the pocket of it was a package of cards : 



; Residence 


Office : 


: Telephone No. 8312. 


Telephone No. 1284. : 


DR. P. 


H. CRONIN, : 


I PHYSICIAN 


AND SURGEON, 


Chicago. : 


Office 


Residence : 


: 501-503 opera house 


468-470 NORTH CLARK I 


BUILDING. 


STREET. 


: Hours: 12 m. to 2 


Hours: 9 to 11a. m M : 


: p. m. 


6 to 7:30 p. m. 



THE CR0NIN CASE. 



263 



The clothing had evidently been ripped off the dead 
man with a very sharp knife, and the loss of the watch 
and purse with money, proves that the assassins could 
combine robbery with their "patriotic" work. 

IN COURT. THREE TOGETHER. 

The criminal court opened on November 9th, with 
a subdued air and benches of spectators with dripping 
umbrellas and damp clothes. The cross-examination 
of Captain Schuettler was resumed by Mr. Wing, and 




THE SLASHED CLOTHING. 

on the re-direct examination by Mr. Hynes the Captain 
told of the conversation between O' Sullivan and Capt. 
Schaack, when the iceman admitted that no accident 
had ever befallen any of his men; that no child had 
ever been overrun by any of his wagons, and that when 
he himself was ill another doctor attended him. He 
also denied belonging to the Clan-na-Gael, but when 
asked to give up the names of those who attended a 
certain meeting of the " Washington Literary Society," 
which was organized by Dr. Cronin, O' Sullivan refused 
without first consulting his political dictators. When 



264 THE CRONIN CASE. 

cross-questioned by Capt. Schaack as to what O'Sullivan 
telephoned Coughlin between the months of February 
and March, the iceman blurted out: "About a man named 
Kunze." He, therefore, was the first to implicate the 
giddy German in the matter. It has been conclusively 
proven that constant telephoning was going on between 
the iceman and Coughlin ; these messages were always 
for the detective to come to his place. O'Sullivan also 
denied that he knew the Carlson's tenants, which was 
false, and a Mrs. Lindgren testified that when the Carl- 
sons were getting uneasy about the non-occupation of 
the cottage it was to O'Sullivan they looked for explan- 
ation. 

The great and only sensational witness of the day 
was William Nieman, saloonkeeper at Lincoln avenue 
and Eoscoe street. He swore that on the evening of 
May 4th, about 10:30 o'clock, O'Sullivan, Coughlin, 
Kunze, and another man, came into his saloon and had 
drinks around. O'Sullivan paid for all. They appeared 
excited, and all whispered close together as if they had 
some terrible secret to impart or talk over. 

Nieman clinched the chain under cross-examination, 
as to the date he fixed it, by the day he received his 
license. 

In the identification of Coughlin and Kunze, Nie- 
man was not absolutely positive, but his strong opinion 
was that they were the same men — the missing man, it 
is to be presumed — was Cooney — but of O' Sullivan's 
identity the witness had not the shadow of a doubt. 
At this particular juncture the prisoners directly re- 
ferred to leaned forward in their chairs and glared at 



THE CRONIN CASE. 265 

the witness, their faces paling perceptibly. They made 
suggestions to Mr. Forrest during the cross-examina- 
tion, and the nervous twitchings and suppressed feeling 
exhibited, showed that they had received a home-thrust. 
Neiman's testimony is a flat contradiction to the asser- 
tion made by O' Sullivan, to sundry persons, that he was 
home all the night of May 4th. The witness was not 
in the least shaken on cross-examination, and being a 
German, his evidence was without taint of prejudice. 
O' Sullivan was again brought prominently forward 
in connection with his never-to-be-forgotten card. The 




TWO VIEWS OF DR. CRONIN'S HAT. 

printers' foreman, Andrew J. Monatt, proved that the 
iceman got a lot of the celebrated cards on April 27th, 
and having gotten these he was apparently in no hurry 
for the remainder. So it was shown that O'Sullivan 
was in a hurry for some of the cards, and that he 
obtained them for a set purpose. 

Two police officers were called, Joseph Hunkaler and 
Isaac Robinson, who were on duty in the neighborhood 
of the Carlson cottage about May 12th. Hunkaler 
noticed two men standing at the real estate office at 
Ashland avenue. He drove them away, as it was after 
hours, and these were evidently the fellows who were 
on guard while their co- conspirators went into the cot- 
tage to paint the floor and disguise all traces of the 



266 THE CRONIN CASE. 

crime, so as to be able to * xplain the matter to old man 
Carlson, as was done in the letter of " F. W." on May 
19tb. By a watchmaker named Alfred Kettner, Cough- 
lin was seen walking north in the direction of the 
Carlson cottage about 4 o'clock on May 4th, with another 
man, probably to complete arrangements. 

These were the features of the day and the news of 
the discovery of Dr. Cronin's effects reaching the 
court, the order for adjournment was given and every 
one hurried away to ask about and talk of the new sen- 
sation. 

On November 9, Captain Schuettler cleaned a small 
piece of muddy carpet, raked out of the Lake View 
sewer by Officer Lorch on the day before. The colors 
were easily recognized and it was exactly similar to 
that sold to "J. B. Simmons." This piece of carpet, 
found in the same sew^er with Dr. Cronin's clothing, 
serves to locate the Doctor in the Carlson cottage, 
whence the carpet came, and where Martin Burke was 
ostensibly residing at the time of the murder. 

It was clearly established by this day's evidence that 
the blood-stains found in the Carlson cottage, and in 
the trunk picked up on Evanston avenue the day after 
the murder, were those of human being's blood. 

Two sessions of court were held, and the first wit- 
ness called in the morning for the state was Gerhardt 
Wardel. He was examined by Mr. Mills. The wit- 
ness is a gardener by occupation, and lives at No. 1929 
North Ashland avenue. On the night of May 4, at 
10:30 o'clock, he saw two men enter the Carlson cot- 
tage. He could not positively identify any of the 



THE CRONIN C4SE. 



267 



prisoners as the men he saw enter the cottage, but 
such general description as he was able to give, fitted 
very closely to Dan Coughlin and Pat Cooney. There 
was a light burning in the cottage at that time. He 
could see the light through the space left by a missing 
slat from the green window blinds. He arose at 5 
o'clock the next morning, and accompanied his wife to 
early mass. As they passed the Carlson cottage, which 
is but little more than a block south of their own home, 
they saw fresh blood-stains on the steps of the cottage 




THE PRESCRIPTION BOOK. 

and on the board walk in front. The witness was 
cross-examined by Judge Wing without any new points 
being brought out, or without in the slightest way 
weakening the evidence. 

Archibald J. Cameron, who keeps the saloon at No. 
793 Lincoln avenue, which is but a short distance from 
the Carlson cottage, testified that John Kunze, who he 
has known for some time, accompanied by Coughlin 
and a person called Dunn, was in his saloon one even- 
ing shortly after the April election, 



268 THE CRONIN CASE. 

Dr. Egbert was recalled to testify that he gave some 
of the hairs he had taken from the head of the body of 
Dr. Cronin at the autopsy to Captain Schuettler. Then 
followed the testimony of the experts. 

Professor Walter S. Haines, who holds the chair of 
chemistry in the Rush Medical College, was first called. 
His chemical examinations of a few of the hairs given 
him by Captain Schuettler, arid of several blood-stains 
from the cottage and the trunk, proved conclusively 
that they were blood-stains, though whether of the 
human or brute species the science of chemistry could 
not decide. His evidence was clear and convincing, 
and a careful cross-examination by Judge Wing did 
not in the least shake it. 

Professor Henry L. Tolman, the expert microscopist, 
was then called. After an elaborate examination of the 
blood-stains under the microscope, he was convinced 
that the blood was of the human species. To quote 
the witness' exact words: "I should say it was human 
blood. Partly because the average of all these meas- 
urements brings it above the generally established 
average of human blood, which is about 3,200 or 3,250 
to an inch; and, secondly, because the kind of hair 
found, which adds very strongly to that supposition. I 
may add that those hairs were not visible to the naked 
eye, that they were in the clot, and when I first saw 
them I passed them by as atoms of fibrine. They 
slightly resembled it, but their repetition so many times 
finally led me to examine them very carefully. They 
were only found in that clot, and apparently where the 
clot was the thickest. I came to two interstices 



THE CRONIN CASE, 269 

between the wood, where they were thicker, and there 
found them in quite a number, nearly to the center of 
the drop." 

Dr. William T. Belfield, expert microscopist, also 
examined the specimens of hair and blood-stains. His 
evidence as to the blood being that of a human being 
was very interesting and conclusive, though in the 
main his testimony but corroborated that of the pre- 




CHIEF HUBBARD READS DR. CRONIN'S CARD. 

vious witness. Both witnesses gave excellent testi- 
mony, which Mr. Forrest's lengthy cross-examination 
failed to shake in the slightest. 

Alexander Sullivan was admitted to bail by Judge 
Tuley in the circuit court June 14, on habeas corpus 
proceedings, and on this day (Nov. 2, was released from 
bail by Judge Baker, ordering that a judgment in exon- 
erator be entered, and with that order from the court 
Alexander Sullivan was freed from all legal bonds for 
the murder of Dr. Cronin. 



270 THE CBONIN CASE, 

Monday, November 11. — The first witness of the 
morning was Miss Martha Johnson, who identified the 
cotton batting found in the trunk. 

Henry Beckhose testified that Kunze had boarded 
with him as "John Kaiser," and that he had elsewhere 
assumed the name, was sworn to by a German named 
Herkimer. John P. Dunn sustained the evidence 
of A. J. Cameron. He was in the saloon about 
election time and saw Coughlin and Kunze there and 
the latter introduced him to Coughlin, saying that 
anything the detective could do for him (Kunze), would 
be done. 

F. S. Washburn, saloon-keeper, gave a conversation 
with Kunze, when the German said that he was going 
to buy a horse from O'Sullivan and pay more than the 
horse was worth so as to get money from his guardian. 
The intimacy between the iceman and Kunze is well 
established. 

Gus Klahre, the tinner, who soldered Burke's box 
and was twice mysteriously assaulted, testified that about 
9 o'clock on May 6, an expressman and Martin Burke 
called on him to solder a box 14x26 inches. The tin- 
ner began to talk about the Cronin murder. When he 
started the conversation Burke said, "He was a British 
spy and ought to be killed." The box was of galvan- 
ized iron and Burke sat by all the time Klahre was at 
work, watching the proceeding very carefully, moving 
from one side to the other of the bench as the box was 
turned. The workman was about to cut the cord, in 
order to scrape the box, when Burke stopped him. 
"Don't cut that cord," he said. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



271 



Michael Walsh belongs to Camp No. 96, and is the 
man who paid Burke's board in Joliet. He met Burke 
there about May 9, and got him work as a sewer la- 
borer. He went with Burke to get a letter at the post- 
office, but would not say if or not that letter contained 
a money order. U I am giving no information about his 
getting a post-office order," said this witness, who was 
evidently inspired by the Triangle and prompted by 




CAPT. SCHUETTLER WITH THE FIND. 

Forrest's "I object," and who received a shake-hands 
from Burke on going out from the witness-chair. 

The next witness was Joseph O'Byrne, senior guard- 
ian of Camp 266, a gentleman who gave his evidence 
with great impartiality and with a conscientious regard 
for truth and honor. He said that meeting with John 
F. Beggs, " I asked him, ' What are we going to do 
with regard to Dr. Cronin? ' " He (O'Byrne) said that 
the council ought to be called. Beggs said that " There 
was no need to mind that matter, and that the Doctor 



272 THE ORONIN CASE. 

would turn up all right." To Warren (the name of a 
man who, standing by, intruded into the conversation), 
Beggs said : " You do not know what you are talking 
about; you are not belonging to the inner circle.'' 
This remark, it must be added, is a little hard on old 
Denny O'Connor, who swore that there was no inner 
circle, and who evidently considered his oath to the 
Triangle more binding than his oath to respect God 
and the laws of the United States. Mr. O'Byrne's 
version of the conversation with Beggs conclusively 
established that there was an inner circle, and Mr. 
O'Connor, while swearing that there was no inner cir- 
cle, collected the ballots and inducted members into 
the circle. As this testimony was corroborated by 
another gentlemen of unquestionable veracity and high 
character in Irish circles, Mr. Maurice Morris, it must 
be considered as perfectly true, and it is the first time 
decisive evidence has been sent home against John F. 
Beggs. Mr. Morris was present when the conversation 
took place about Cronin's disappearance. 

Dr. John F. Williams testified that he was a custo- 
mer of O'Sullivan's, and that the iceman was his patient 
when sick. He occasionally gave him prescriptions. 
Questioned as to how much O'Sullivan's annual bill 
amounted to, the Docter said that it did not reach $10, 
for all the time lie was the iceman's physician. Here 
was a man paying $50 a year to Dr. Cronin when his 
bill was not $10 for three or four years medical 
service. 

Michael Gilbert, the man who found Dr. Cronin's 
clothing, etc., described the method of flushing the 



THE CRONIN CASE. 273 

sewers which enabled him to make the discovery. "I 
called to Michael Reese,*' said he, " to get those rags 
out. We tied them with a piece of string, put them 
in a pail, and hauled them up." 

During the time that Gilbert was on the stand alter- 
nate tints of deadly pallor and crimson chased each 
other across the faces of the prisoners. The clothes 
were produced. The few ripped and gashed garments 
were all that remained to exhibit to the spectators and 
court of their once rightful owner. The scene was 
tragic. 

The court was densely crowded. Paleness and hor- 
ror were on every face as the ghastly remains were 
shown, and the intense emotion was heightened when 
Chief Hubbard, in identifying the instruments, 
reminded the people of the humane mission of the man 
and of the noble art of healing, of which the victim 
was a votary. Men hushed their voices and women's 
eyes filled with tears. A solemn and awful stillness 
reigned, and all were grave and nervous as the counsel 
of the prosecution directed their identification, and 
some minds flashed back to the history of 2,000 years 
ago, when Roman patriots carried their lives in their 
hands in the presence of a secret force which the trin- 
ity of treason had revived in our day and under this 
Republic. 

Few parallels have ever been known for the circum- 
stances of this murder, and none for the brutal and 
drastic levity with which it has been regarded in cer- 
tain Irish circles. America needs to take warning 
lest the apathy of her busy people and unprecedented 

18 



274 THE CRONIN CASE. 

limitations of her laws and executive departments do 
not develop a fertile field for license and anarchy. 
If there was any wholesome fear of the law this mur- 
der would never have been committed, and the bold 
and isolated clicque who stand behind it and support it 
with their pilfered money and purchased perjury would 
be handed over to the governments to which their lives 
are forfeited to pay the penalties of their crimes. But 
here American politicians have sheltered, rewarded and 
toadied to them, and American institutions are reap- 
ing the fruits of the treacherous levity of the false and 
faithless few who are unfortunately permitted to con- 
duct public affairs for their own private gain, and to 
hire thugs, thieves, detectives and court-bailiffs to 
taint, outrage, and trample upon the sources of justice 
and law. 



CHAPTEE XVII. 

November 12 to 15 — Coughlin's Admissions — " To Perdition With 
Alexander Sullivan!" — Mrs. Hoertel's Evidence — Dr. Cronin' s 
Dying Cries — "OGod!" u O Jesus!" — About Burke— Kunze 
and Coughlin — The German Suspect's " Confession" — He De- 
clares Burke Guilty — The Prosecution Practically Closed — 
Two Days' Recess— Now For the Defense— Mrs. Hoertel's 
Character. 

Another day of sensations was added to the record 
of the Cronin case on Nov. 12. Even the dying words 
of the stricken man, murdered with the name of his 
God and his Savior upon his lips, were repeated in the 
gloomy court-room. But scarcely could imagina- 
tion picture the terrible scene conjured up by the 
words of an humble German washerwoman, before at- 
tention was arrested by a still more startling phase of 
the trial. 

The question was: "Shall the investigation be 
allowed to rest with a detailed history of the circum- 
stances of the crime itself, or shall the veil be lifted 
and the motives of the tragedy, remote and direct, be 
exposed?" Judge McConnell took the matter under 
consideration. 

" Cronin and myself have been enemies for four 
years," were the words of Dan Coughlin, repeated by 
Chief Hubbard on the witness-stand. 

" Was Coughlin on the trial committee which con- 
victed Dr. Cronin of treason ?" asked the state's attor- 
ney of ex-Officer Dan Brown, a member of that com- 
mittee and the man who preferred charges against the 
Doctor. Brown was a witness. 

(275) . 



276 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



Thereupon a foretaste of the deluge of oratory 
which awaited the jury was poured forth for the benefit 
of the judge, and up to the close of the day's proceed- 
ings the query propounded to ex-Officer Brown 
remained unanswered. 

Mr. Foster, abandoning his habitual manner of quiet 
reserve, cleared the field for action by declaring briefly 




w. A. FOSTER. 

what would be the natural outcome if such a question 
were allowed to be answered. It would mean a re- 
hearing of the testimony taken in the trial of Cronin 
in 1885, and a reopening of the trial of Alexander 
Sullivan in Buffalo last year. 

" To perdition with Alexander Sullivan!" exclaimed 
Forrest in the most dramatic speech which he has yet 



THE CRONIN CASE. 277 

uttered. He declaimed against his " poor unoffending 
clients" being burdened with the sins of Alexander 
Sullivan, against whom there existed a strong prejudice 
in the popular mind. 

" Alexander Sullivan walks the streets of Chicago a 
free man, against whom the grand jury refused to re- 
turn an indictment in this case," pleaded Foster. 

"We are not called upon to discuss the question as 
to whether a man named Alexander Sullivan is a saint 
or a mild-mannered, law-abiding, decent Christian 
gentleman, or a red-handed murderer," was the scath- 
ing retort of Luther Laflin Mills, delivered in that 
lawyer's most emphatic manner. 

And amid a storm of oratory in which the big guns 
on both sides belched forth their strongest broadsides, 
Judge McConnell sat silent and meditative. 

" Cronin pleaded guilty to the charge of treason," 
urged the lawyer for Beggs. 

k< The treason consisted in having the honesty to 
denounce the chief executive of the order as guilty of 
embezzlement and malfeasance in office," retorted 
Hynes, who explained that his respect for the murdered 
Doctor impelled him to participate in a discussion in 
which he intended to have remained silent. 

And then the matter rested, pending the judge's de- 
cision. 

But even during the painful suspense when the vital 
question of whether to halt or go forward remained in 
doubt, the recollection of the morning's scene lingered 
about the court- room. It was a scene worthy of Dickens, 
as the story told by the witness who occupied the chair 



278 THE CRONIN CASE. 

duriug most of the session was such as that great 
master loved to immortalize. 

Truth spoke from the witness chair when Mrs. 
Pauline Hoertel, a poor German washerwoman, took 
the stand. Her pathetic story brought tears to many- 
eyes, as her unshaken testimony brought hopes and 
fears to many hearts. Burdened with a drunken hus- 
band the unhappy woman had been compelled to earn 
a scanty livel hood at the wash-tub, while the man 
squandered his money in rum holes. Her importuni- 
ties to the liquor sellers to cease supplying her hus- 
band with drink had only resulted in her appearance 
in the police court, as a prisoner, on false charges. 
Disheartened and homeless, she had wandered night 
after night seeking her husband in his usual haunts, 
and wearied and footsore she had slept in the door- 
steps of the house she called home. But in her wan- 
derings she was the only witness under heaven of the 
one important episode in the tragedy which the court 
and jury were now investigating. 

The night of May 4 she had returned from a hard 
days' work to find her house-door locked against her. 
It being Saturday night she knew that her husband 
had money in his pocket to gratify his thirst for rum, 
and she wished to find him before his earnings were 
all gone. For nearly an hour she wandered from 
saloon to saloon and at last reached the place kept by 
Ertel, her enemy. She arrived there on the stroke of 
8 o'clock — her husband she could not see, but her 
glance fell upon the face of the clock hanging th r re 
and she knew the exact hour as she moved on. A 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



279 



Jock or more away she halted, uncertain what to do. 
3he retraced her steps and turned down Ashland 
avenue. 

One of those trifling incidents which sink deeply 
into the minds of the sorrow-stricken, to w T hom they 
are of no possible concern, then happened to Mrs. 
Hoertel. A white horse, driven rapidly, drawing a 
buggy, suddenly halted, and turned back a short dis- 
tance from where she was slowly dragging herself 
along. A tall man jumped out of the buggy, reached 




MRS. PAULINE HOERTEL. 

back for something that lay in the box of the vehicle, 
went across the ditch and walked up the steps of a 
house before w T hich the buggy was halted. The door 
6l the house was opened from within, and Dr. P. H. 
Cronin had for the last time gazed on earth and sky. 

The woman saw the buggy rapidly disappearing 
southward, and ere she arrived opposite the cottage 



280 THE CRONIN CASE. 

the front door had been slammed to and the tragedy 
which has startled the world had been accomplished. 

"0 God! O Jesus!" were the words she heard 
coming from behind the closed door as she passed the 
cottage. 

The sound of a falling body, followed by the noise 
of a scuffle, also came to her ears. Accustomed to 
being cruelly used, the only thought which suggested 
itself to her mind was that some other unfortunate was 
being subjected to similar treatment and she passed on. 

Weeks and months passed and the event had well- 
nigh been obliterated from her memory. News of the 
Cronin tragedy reached her ears, the Carlson cottage 
became famous, gossips related the story of the killing, 
and the occurrence of May 4 slowly recurred to the 
witness. She told of it to others and at last it reached 
the prosecution. 

In many ways Mrs. Hoertel was a most damaging 
witness for the defense. Mr. Wing, by sending away 
the interpreter who assisted at the direct examination, 
caused a bad impression on the jury, and his persist- 
ent attempts to bring forward the fact that the woman 
had been arrested recoiled to his disadvantage when 
the causes leading up to her arrest were afterward 
shown by the prosecution. For nearly an hour and a 
half he cross- questioned her as to her actions on the 
days preceding and following May 4. 

Although the defense made a great show of protest- 
ing that the witness had been sprung upon them as a 
surprise, it was evident from the line of cross-exami- 
nation that her every act during the last two years had 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



281 



been reviewed by the defense beforehand. Bat out of 
the ordeal Mrs. Hoertel emerged unscathed and uniin- 
peached, while the tell-tale faces of Burke, Kunze, 
G' Sullivan and Coughlin flushed crimson as she re- 
peated the dying cries of tne victim of the Carlson cot- 
tage. 

"Flight is always considered as evidence of guilt," 
say the books on evidence. State's Attorney Longe- 
necker reiterated the statement in his opening address 




OFFICER DONALD E. MoKINNON. 

IN THE WITNESS-CHAIR. 



to the jury. This afternoon the evidence of 
Burke's flight and capture at Winnipeg were told to 
the jury. 

Officer Donald E. McKinnon, desk sergeant of the 
Winnipeg city police, arrived in Chicago at 10 o'clock 
yesterday morning and took the stand at 2 o'clock. He 
told the jury of Burke's arrest in Winnipeg, with rail- 
road and steamship tickets in his possession that 



282 THE CRONIN CASE. 

would secure his passage to Montreal and thence to 
Liverpool. At that time Burke was traveling under 
the alias of TV. J. Cooper. His personal baggage, 
though evidently on a trip of thousands of miles, in- 
cluding an ocean voyage, was almost nothing, a fact, 
however, which the state was not permitted to show, 
the court holding that the absence of a quantity of bag- 
gage was not of itself a material circumstance. 

The witness told of the conversation that had passed 
between Burke and himself and Chief McRae, in 
which Burke said he had worked his way from Chicago. 
He had been at Hancock, Mich., for a time, in com- 
pany with a man named J. F. Ryan. At first he said 
they were together on a homestead, but afterward he 
said Ryan kept a store there. 

The defense was allowed to defer its cross-examina- 
tion until next morning, Mr. Forrest saying he did 
not have his notes with him. He promised, however, 
that the examination should be short. 

Henry Plauskie, who was in May last a solicitor for 
Bacharach's shirt factory, told of a significant circum- 
stance occurring Sunday morning, May 5. Martin 
Burke came into Bacharach's store between 8 and 9 
o'clock that morning and bought a white shirt and two 
collars. After selecting the shirt that was the right 
size as to the neck he asked Plauskie if he was sure the 
sleeves were large enough. Plauskie replied that he 
didn't know, but that if Burke would take off his coat 
they could tell in a minute. Burke said he wouldn't 
take off his coat. The witness, supposing this unwill- 
ingness was due to a feeling of shame because the shirt 



THE CRONIN CASE. 283 

he had on might be dirty, said: "Why not? It often 
happens that customers come in with dirty shirts on. 
It doesn't make any difference here." To this Burke 
replied that it was none of the witness' business why 
he wouldn't, emphasizing his refusal with an oath. The 
witness, like a good salesman, said nothing further 
likely to antagonize his customer or prevent a sale, and 
Burke made the purchase and went out. Crossing the 
street Burke beckoned another man whom the witness 
identified as Patrick Cooney by a photograph. The 
two came back to the store and Cooney bought a col- 
ored shirt. Both men had their coats buttoned up 
closely. Mr. Forrest tried hard to break down the 
witness on cross-examination, but failed utterly. 

Thomas Carroll, who boarded at the same place as 
Kunze in May or June, told how Kunze had asked him 
for a paper he was reading, assigning as a reason for 
wanting to see it that he was afraid the police wanted 
to arrest him in connection with the Cronin murder. 

Chief of Police Hubbard related the conversation 
he had with Dan Coughlin on May 23 and 24 in regard 
to the latter' s connection w r ith the white horse from 
Dinan's livery stable. The criminating admissions 
Coughlin made at that time were related to the jury in 
a straightforward manner by the chief, and evidently 
made quite an impression on the jury. 

The next witness was Daniel Brown, the man who 
preferred the charges against Dr. Cronin way back in 
1885, on which Cronin was prosecuted by Alexander 
Sullivan before a trial committee of which Dan Cough- 
lin was a member. Brown didn't get that far in his 



284 THE CRONIN CASE. 

testimony, for the admission of his evidence provoked 
a debate which was not concluded when court adjourned. 

Brown had told his name and occupation and his 
former connection with the Clan-na-Gael as a member 
of Camp No. 16, which met on Tw T enty-second street. 
The state's attorney then asked Brown if he ever pre- 
ferred charges in his camp against Dr. Cronin. 

The question was immediately objected to. This 
was the opening of the whole question of admitting in 
evidence the history of the triangle manipulations and 
the dissensions arising out of the efforts to relieve the 
society from the baneful influences of the triangle. 

When the objection was made Mr. Longenecker 
arose and stated what they proposed to show. It was 
in evidence, he said, that Dan Coughlin's enmity to 
Dr. Cronin dated back to a period four years ago. 
They would show that Dan Coughlin was one of the 
committee that tried and expelled Dr. Cronin for trea- 
son because he read in one camp a circular issued by 
another, in which charges of misappropriation of funds 
by the executive committee were made. This execu- 
tive, it had been shown, was composed of Alexander 
Sullivan, Feeley and Boland. It was also in evidence 
that when Capt. O'Connor, last February, stated in 
Camp 20 that Dr. Cronin had stated the substance of a 
report of the minority of the Buffalo trial committee, 
making the same charges against the executive, Dan 
Coughlin moved to appoint a secret committee to inves- 
tigate. The evidence of the witness on the stand 
w r ould show the feelings Coughlin entertained toward 
Dr. Cronin. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 285 

This speech thoroughly aroused Mr. Forrest. In an 
impassioned address he said he was not in court to 
attack or defend Alexander Sullivan. u We say, with 
you, to perdition with Alexander Sullivan, if that is 
where you want to send him. But, though Alexander 
Sullivan was only a few days ago in this very court, by 
Judge Baker, discharged in this case, yet there is a 
prejudice against him. Yet we protest that our clients 
shall be tried for their own sins, and that the prejudice 
against Alexander Sullivan shall not be brought in 
here to convict them. Coughlin and Burke were not 
members of the triangle." 

Mr. Foster said this question was but the opening 
wedge. If Dan Coughlin acted on the committee that 
expelled Dr. Cronin he did so in a judicial capacity. 
Because by his verdict Dr. Cronin was expelled it did 
not follow that Coughlin was actuated by malice. To 
show that, it would be necessary to try that old case 
over again. Then the Buffalo trial would have to be 
tried over again, and instead of one case the court and 
jury would be called on to try three or four cases. He 
protested against bringing in the history of the Clan- 
na-Gael of two or three years before his client Beggs 
was a member of it, and trying to convict him because 
he was a friend of Alexander Sullivan, whom the state's 
attorney couldn't find evidence enough against to secure 
an indictment. 

THE PROSECUTION TAKES ISSUE. 

" If his dupes would tell what they know I'd get an 
indictment against him quick enough," said Mr. Long- 
necker. 



286 THE CRONlN CASE. 

" I object to this remark," said Mr. Forrest and Mr. 
Donahoe in concert. 

"I didn't say your clients were his dupes," replied 
Mr. Longnecker. 

" Well, we object to that," said Mr. Forrest. 

The court ruled that there was nothing objectionable 
in it. 

Mr. Hynes pointed out that if they could prove, as 
they proposed to do by the witness Brown, that Dr. 
Cronin was accused of reading an unauthorized circular 
in a camp and convicted by the verdict of Coughlin of 
treason and of being a traitor, it would show malice. 

The court said he would not decide the question 
until next morning, and that a recess would be taken 
until that time. 

THE GERMAN SUSPECT'S CONFESSION. 

John Kunze this day addressed a letter to the Abend 
Post of Chicago, giving what he says is all he knows 
about Dr. Cronin's murder. He declares his belief in 
Burke's guilt, and says he was promised his freedom 
by Judge Longnecker if he would turn state's evidence. 
Below is the letter translated, which is entitled "My 
Confession;" 

" It surprised me much when I read in the papers 
yesterday that I was to go on the stand as a witness for 
the state's attorney. What have I to tell the state's 
attorney ? I could tell him nothing unless I told him 
a fairy tale whereby innocent persons would suffer. If 
I had heard a word about it before, I would have told 
long ago. If I had taken Dan Coughlin to the (Carl- 



THE CRONIN CASE. 287 

son) cottage it would have been told long ago. I would 
have told it when they kept me in the police station 
for ten days. I never used Dan Coughlin's buggy, and 
cannot, therefore, give false testimony, although Mr. 
Longenecker promised me my liberty if I would say so. 

Oh! how gladly would 1 take my liberty if I knew' 
something of the story and could say so to the state's 
attorney. But I will not swear falsely for any money 
in the world, not even if my life is in peril. Could I 
see any innocent person suffer on account of me? That 
I ran around with Dan Coughlin until April 10, 1889, 
is true, and that I bore a false name on the south side 
is also true, but all this I have already confessed to the 
state's attorney. That the others had something to do 
with this (Cronin) matter, I now believe myself, if for 
no other reason than because of their behavior in jail. 
I am sure that Burke is one of the miscreants. I saw 
and felt it yesterday. When the clothes of Dr. Cronin 
were brought into the court-room he trembled violently, 
which is a proof of his guilt. The others were as 
white as snow. I thank God that I have a clear con- 
science, have nobody to fear, and nothing to make me 
tremble. So far as my false name is concerned that 
will be cleared up by the Schufeldt distillery matter, 
because I was shadowed at that time, and they wanted 
to take important papers from me. 

This is my confession which I have to make to Mr. 
Longnecker. In the honest hope that my innocence 
and the truth will soon be known, 

I remain, yours sincerely, 

John P. Kunze." 



288 THE CRONIN CASE. 

Wednesday morning, November 13, Judge McCon- 
nell read bis decision and refused permission to the 
prosecution to examine Daniel Brown on occurrences of 
four years back. (For the decision in full, see Legal 
Appendix. ) 

"In view of your honor's position as to the admis- 
sion of Daniel Brown's evidence," said State's Attorney 
Longenecker, at the opening of the afternoon session 
of the court, "we believe that the state's case is closed, 
with the exception of one witness whom we expect will 
arrive to-morrow." 

Mr. Frankenfield, of the local weather bureau, had 
in the morning testified that until midnight on May 4, 
the sky was clear and cloudless and the moon shining. 
This would give sufficient light for such identifications 
on that night as witnesses had testified t >. 

Mr. Forrest here got the worst of it again by too 
vigilant cross-examination. The lawyer tried to dis- 
credit the memoranda from which Mr. Frankenfield 
was testifying, but was met with the citation of a case 
in the United States Supreme Court which held that 
his books were official records. The local observatory 
presided over by this witness is on the roof of the 
Chicago Opera House block, where Dr. Cronin had his 
office and where the contract with O'Sullivan was made. 
There the clear sky w r as observed and this last piece of 
testimony brings back the record from the stars which 
overlooked the scene of the tragedy at Lake View to 
the Chicago Opera House block. 

The other evidence introduced consisted of the iden- 
tification of the surroundings of the Carlson cottage by 



THE CRONIN CASE. 289 

a real-estate agent; identifications of portions taken 
from the cottage by Capt. Schuettler, and the cross- 
examination of Officer McKinnon, of Winnipeg, by 
Mr. Forrest. The last named was not productive of 
any new features except that the transcript of evidence 
on which the defense based its questions was taken in 
long-hand. 

After the state's attorney had declared his case 
complete, Mr. Forrest rose to address the court on 
behalf of the defendants. Instead of giving an out- 
line of his case, he announced his intention of waiving 
an opening address to the jury, and each of the law- 
yers for the prisoners signified their intention of doing 
likewise. Then Mr. Forrest asked that a recess be 
taken until Monday, Nov. 18, in order to allow the 
defense to prepare its case and to put in shape many 
objections which have been raised to sundry portions 
of evidence which the prosecution in introducing 
promised to connect with its case by subsequent testi- 
mony. 

Judge McConnell agreed to Mr. Forrest's request 
for delay only until Saturday (the 16th), by which 
time he said the defense ought to be ready to argue 
whatever motions were to be introduced, and the testi- 
mony of the absent witness for the state would be taken. 

On November 15, there was nothing startling devel- 
oped in the Cronin case. The lawyers for the defense 
were busy as bees and the attorneys of the prosecution 
were by no means idle. 

Mrs. Hoertel's testimony threatens to be the center 
of controversy. The defense will attack it and the 

19 



290 THE CRONIN CASE. 

prosecution defend it. Saloon-keeper Ertel and his 
brother are the only persons who speak ill of her, it is 
claimed, and their grievance against her will not 
impress the jury with their fairness. 

The state got to the bottom of the " chicken " case 
yesterday. Under cross-examination Judge Wing got 
the witness to say that she had been arrested twice in 
a " chicken " case. The trouble arose over some tres- 
passing chickens of a neighbor. Mrs. Hoertel had a 
little garden, of which a neighbor's chickens were veiy 
fond. They could unmake more garden in an hour 
than she could plant in two days. Mrs. Hoertel lost 
her temper and killed some of the intruders. She was 
arrested. The other chickens one morning scratched 
the insides out of an onion bed. Mrs. Hoertel killed 
some more chickens. She was arrested again. Each 
time she was acquitted. 



CHAPTEE XVIII. 

November 16 to 20—" Journalist" Clancy —The State Rests—Tes- 
timony for the Defense — Triangular Alibis — The Hylands — 
Ex-Detective Whelan— Sergt. Stift— Coughlin's Alibi— A Pro- 
cession of Alibi Witnesses — Cold Day For Icemen — Jones' 
Joke — The White Horse Again. 

James Clancy was the first witness of Nov. 16, and 
the last called by the prosecution. The gentleman had 
many peculiarities and mannerisms. His accent is not 
to be rendered in type. It fluctuates between the wilds 
of Connemara and the meretricious elegance, the arti- 
ficial polish of Charing Cross. He was a journalist, 
he said, and it was evident that beneath all his affecta- 
tions there was something in him. 

The substance of Mr. Clancy's direct testimony was 
that he had called upon P. O'Sullivan twice on the day 
when Dr. Cronin's body was discovered. The iceman's 
contradictory statements and visible agitation when ap- 
prised of the discovery were related by the witness as 
evidence of guilt on the part of the accused. He 
attempted to act the part played by O'Sullivan on that 
occasion. O' Sullivan's answers to questions by the 
interviewer were told in gasps, and his demeanor, 
fidgeting nervously with his pocket-handkerchief, wip- 
ing the perspiration from his face, and otherwise be- 
traying his agitation, bordered on the farcical when 
reproduced in the witness chair. 

Mr. Donahoe's cross-examination was apparently 
making great headway until he got the witness to that 
point in his history where he was obliged to confess 

(291) 



292 THE CRONIN CASE. 

that his residence was "in prison." Having elicited 
the further fact that the cause of his imprisonment was 
a conviction for attempted murder, Mr. Donahoe 
brought the examination to a summary close. 

But Mr. Donahoe's triumph was shortlived, and once 
again the prosecution was indebted to the defending 
lawyers for getting before the jury evidence of most 
damaging effect against the accused. 

The staters attorney proceeded on the line laid down 
by the cross-examination to show the circumstances 
under which Mr. Clancy had been imprisoned. Mr. 
Clancy was an Irish patriot when Irish patriotism 
meant the immediate probability of shouldering a gun 
and taking part in an uprising against her foes. Under 
orders from one of the leaders of the insurrectionary 
movement he had joined the English army to learn the 
art of war, and when the summons came to strike a 
blow for the liberty of his native land, he obeyed. 
Knowledge of this having reached the government, he 
was marked for capture. In resisting arrest he drew a 
revolver on the two policeman who tried to secure him, 
and for this offense he was convicted and sentenced to 
penal servitude for life. By the intercession of friends 
in Parliament and his own conduct in jail he was liber- 
ated at the expiration of ten years. 

"We now rest the case for the state," remarked 
State's Attorney Longenecker, and the tired jurors drew 
long breaths as they shifted their positions in their 
tiresome seats. Instantly Mr. Forrest sprang to his 
feet and began, in a series of motions, outlining the 
policy long ago predicted. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 293 

Mr. Forrest's motion was to strike out all the testi- 
mony of Stephen Colleran relating to Camp 20, except 
that the defendants or some of them were members of 
it; all the testimony of John Collins and Pat McGarry 
as to the proceedings in Camp 20 on February 8, ex- 
cept as to who were present; all of Edward Spelman's 
testimony, exc< pt that part relating to Kunze's and 
Coughlin's vitit to Peoria; all the correspondence be- 
tween Edward Spelman and John F. Beggs; the testi- 
mony of Mrs. T. T. Conklin and the Misses McNear- 
ney, respecting the appearance and conversation of the 
stranger who drove the white horse and called for Dr. 
Cronin; all the evidence of John F. O'Connor, Andrew 
F< y, M. J. Kelly, A. J. Ford, Dennis O'Connor, P. H. 
Nolan, T. F. O'Connor, H. O. O'Connor, Pat McGarry 
and John M. Collins, respecting the occurrences in the 
meeting of Camp 20, on February 8 and 22, May 3 and 
10, except as to who were present; all of the pages of 
the records of Camp 20, containing the minutes of the 
meeting of February 8 ; all the evidence of Frank 
Scanlan as to the things he saw and heard done by 
the stranger and Dr. Cronin May 4; the testimony of 
George Reilly and John A. Quinn, except their testi- 
mony that O'Sulllvan and Coughlin were in Maloney's 
saloon April 24. (This relates to Coughlin's remark 
about "a prominent North Side Catholic") All the 
evidence of Hatfield, Throckmorton, Goldman, Mar- 
shall and Allen, respecting the purchase of furniture 
and the hiring of the Clark street flat by "J. B. Sim- 
mons;" the testimony of Sebastian Steib, James 
Biley, John A. Smith, Patrick O'Shea, John Way, 



294 THE CRONIN CASE. 

Fred Hayden, Herman Thiel, Herman Gausel and 
Charles Knop, relating .to the discovery of the body 
and trunk; the lock of hair said to have been cut from 
the head of Dr. Cronin, and all the testimony regard- 
ing its resemblance to the hair of Dr. Cronin; the single 
hair found on the bar of soap in the Carlson cottage, 
and all experiments regarding it; the testimony of 
Joseph Haukler and Isaac Robinson, relating to the 
wagon with the trunk in it seen on the night of May 4; 
the testimony of Michael Walsh, except as to the fact 
that Burke was in Peoria; the testimony of James as to 
seeing Kunze at the Clark street flat; the testimony of 
Ruchholz, Hirshmin and Petrofski as to Kunze chang- 
ing his name and Burke buying a shirt on May 5. 

In general and in particular the court overruled 
Mr. Forrest's motions, and exceptions were taken to 
the rulings. 

Then began the hearing of testimony for the prisoners. 

Stenographer F. Squibb was called to officially note 
various discrepancies between the evidence of the wit- 
nesses during the trial and their statements before the 
coroner's jury. The great point which the defense 
sought to establish was the identity of the driver of 
the buggy which took away the Doctor, but the attempt 
was futile, and the evidence of Dinan, Mrs. Conklin 
and Frank Scanlan, was only strengthened by being 
repeated to the jury. 

Ex- Captain Schaack and Lieutenant Koch were the 
only witnesses summoned. Their evidence w r as in- 
tended to destroy the effect of Mrs. Conklin's admis- 
sion that she was unable to identify the white horse 



THE CRONIN CASE. 295 

when Schaack brought it to her the week after the 
murder, Mrs. Conklin laid particular stress upon the 
position of the horse as she saw it on the night of May 
4, which rendered it impossible for her to recognize it 
as it stood when driven to her house by the Captain, 
and on this point both he and Lieutenant Koch cor- 
roborated her statement. She further declared that 
when Schaack drove up to her house the night was 
rainy and the color of the horse was consequently un- 
recognizable, and on this point the officers likewise 
agreed with her. Mr. Forrest did not attempt to con- 
ceal the surprise he felt at the first witness for his side 
proving so unprofitable, and repeatedly tried to extract 
from Lieutenant Koch a variation in his answers, but 
in vain. 

The court then adjourned until Monday morning, 
November* 18. 

The record of Judge McConnell's court will show 
that Monday, November 18, was devoted to hearing 
witnesses called by the defense. The record of the 
trial wherein Mr. Forrest has stowed away objections 
and exceptions by the tens of thousands will show that 
this same session was one of the most hurtful to the 
men on trial since they have occupied the Drisoners' 
row in court. 

It has been a source of much guessing during the 
examination of witnesses for the state, what Mr. For- 
rest meant by a certain mysterious question, put with- 
out seeming relevancy, as a prefix to the parting 
salute, "That's all." The question always was, "Do 
you know where Otto street is?" 



296 THE CRONIN CASE. 

The reason for this mysterious line of examination 
became apparent this day. Peter Koch, the firsst wit- 
ness called, lives on Otto street, and during part of 
February, March, and April, John Kunze lived with 
witness. Otto street is only three blocks or so from 
the Carlson cottage, hence the fact of Kunze's acquaint- 
ance in Lake View, his presence near the Carlson cot- 
tage, his intimacy with Dan Coughlin and P. O'Sulli- 
van were all explained in two words — Otto street. Mr. 
Koch also told other things about Kunze; that he was 
obliged to leave Lake View for fear of being arrested, 
that he had declared himself interested in the Schu- 
feldt distillery explosion, and generally was a person 
of a character to be useful to conspirators, even though 
his nationality differed from theirs. That Coughlin's 
acquaintance with Kunze begun while the latter was 
under the influence of drink was also revealed, and 
when the witness had told the whole truth, in reply to 
questions from both sides, it was generally conceded 
that the much heralded "Otto street" that was to prove 
a high-road to freedom for the prisoners, was at best 
but a "blind alley." 

Poorly as the defense fared when treading Otto 
street its experience in that locality was bliss as 
compared with the misery which awaited it nearer 
Chicago. A few blocks away is Nieman's saloon, 
\*here, according to the proprietor's testimony, O'Sul- 
livan, Kunze, and Coughlin took drinks on the night 
of May 4. 

To disprove this the defense introduced an alibi for 
Coughlin and Kunze, leaving O'Sullivan to take a drink 



THE CRONIN CASE. 297 

as stated, but in company with two young men named 
Hyland. 

James Hyland, a young man about a head taller 
than Coughlin, was the man for whom the saloon 
keeper was supposed to have identified Coughlin, and 
his cousin Jeremiah Hyland, a book agent, with a 
strong Tipperary accent, was brought forward as the 
alter ego of the little German speaking Kunze. Barring 
the difference in size the alibi of James Hyland for 
Coughlin worked fairly well while this witness was 
being cross-examined by the state's attorney. It was 
certainly a little awkward that Mr. Hyland only made 
Mr. O'Sullivan's acquaintance on May 5, and had not 
visited Lake View from that day until Sunday night, 
November 17th, when in company with Messrs. 
Forrest, Wing and Donahoe, he had retraced the well- 
remembered path leading from O'Sullivan's barn to 
Niemann's saloon, stopping before the latter place 
with a fidelity of instinct scarcely known outside of a 
milkman's horse. But Mr. Hyland's memory, which 
served him in such good stead in the matter of where 
to stop for a drink, played him sad pranks when called 
upon to relate his experience at O'Sullivan's supper 
table that night. 

Mr. Hynes took Cousin Jerry Hyland in hand, and 
his familiarity with the ways of expatriated patriots 
gave him an advantage over the state's attorney and 
also provoked the first sensation of the day. Mr. 
Jeremiah Hyland was able to retrace the path which 
both claimed to have took with O'Sullivan on the night 
of May 5— not May 4 — as Niemann, the saloon man 



298 THE CRONIN CASE. 

swore. But there the evidence of the two cousins 
ceased to coincide. JEven such a slight matter as the 
fare for supper, which James described as hot meat 
and coffee, Jerry remembered as cold meat and tea. 
Further, Jerry heard what Mr. O'Sullivan told of Dr. 
Cronin and recollected that Mr. P. McGarry was a visi- 
tor. From Lake View Mr. Hynes took the witness 
through the States of Michigan and New York, and 
finally landed him at Pat Dolan's saloon close by the 
East Chicago Avenue Police Station. Strangely 
enough, too, Jerry mistook Dolan for a "jintleman nam- 
ed Nolan," before he was located at the saloon, but on 
arriving there the slight change of name was fixed up 
all right, and Mr. Hyland proceeded to disclose that 
the well-known member of Camp No. 20 was an old 
friend of his, as also were other friends of the men on 
trial. 

But when Michael Whelan, the ex-detective from the 
Chicago avenue station and former partner of Dan 
Coughlin, took the stand, the trouble of the defense 
began in earnest. The substance of Whelan's testi- 
mony was that he took a drink with Dan Coughlin and 
Sergt. Stift, at Gleason's saloon, a few doors west of 
the police station at 10 o'clock on the night of May 4. 
Of course, if Coughlin was drinking then and there he 
could not have been drinking with O'Sullivan and 
Kunze at 10:30 in Lake View, and the big suspect's 
alibi would be an established fact. But state's attor- 
ney Longenecker knew some things, and the spectators 
were astonished when he discarded his memoranda of 
Whelan's evidence, stood up before the witness and 



THE CRONIN CASE. 299 

poured a perfect fusilade of questions into him. Mr. 
Whelan's negatives and affirmatives soon began to give 
out, and the familiar practice of witnesses who are 
" rattled," merely repeating the questions of the attor- 
ney, showed that the witness-chair was becoming a 
veritable u hot box." Time and again the witness 
turned to Judge McConnell to invoke protection from 
the scathing catechism of the state's attorney, but to 
every appeal the Judge was inexorable and refused to 
interfere. Then the witness became insolent and pre- 
fixed his answers with " Didn't I tell you," or " Haven't 
I said so," and while he was becoming more and more 
involved in contradictions it was apparent that the 
state's attorney was laying the foundation of a second 
examination of Mr. Whelan, when he would be con- 
fronted with a host of officials to prove the falsity of 
his statements on this day. 

John Stift, now a police officer and an ex-patrol ser- 
geant, testified that he drank with Coughlin Saturday 
night, but in reply to the state's attorney's questions as 
to how he fixed the date he said that on the morning 
following the occurrence he found a notice in the sta- 
tion warning officers to inspect livery stables for* rigs 
which had been taken out the previous night. As the 
report of Dr. Cronin's disappearance which led to this 
notice being issued was only given to the police on 
Sunday, this admission fixed the date of drinking as on 
that (Sunday) night. 

Altogether, when court adjourned, as it did after 
Stiffs break-down, Mr. Forrest had little reason to 
rejoice in his witnesses or their testimony. 



300 THE CRONIN CASE. 

The preseuce of an unusually large number of ladies 
lent to the proceedings of November 19th, an air of 
gentility not customary to the average sessions. The 
program for the day as outlined by the defense was 
u Alibi, and plenty of it." The remains of Dan 
Coughlin's unfinished alibi were to be served up for 
dissection first, and what was left of the day was to 
be devoted to the exposition of a thick-ribbed, double- 
breasted and treble-plated alibi for P. O'Sullivan, with 
a dash of Carlson cottage alibi and a sprinkling of 
bloody-trunk alibi thrown in. 

When court adjourned on the previous day, Dan 
Coughlin's alibi for May 4th, as controverting the evi- 
dence introduced by the state, that on that date he had 
been drinking with Kunze and O'Sullivan, near the 
Carlson cottage, was in a somewhat demoralized condi- 
tion. To patch up the holes in the alibi, the defense 
introduced Officer Redmond McDonald, of the Chicago 
avenue station. Since May 4th, until two weeks ago, 
McDonald has kept a large secret locked up in his breast. 
The secret was that he saw Coughlin at the station 
on that memorable night when Dr. Cronin was mur- 
dered In spite of the fact that Mayor Cregier, Chief 
Hubbard, State's Attorney Longenecker, and a host of 
other prominent men, have been puzzling to find out 
Coughlin's whereabouts on that night, and in spite of 
the fact that Dan Coughlin himself had been sent to 
jail indicted for murder and was now on trial because 
he couldn't or wouldn't tell where he was that night, 
Officer Redmond McDonald still kept the secret safely 
locked up, and would still have kept it there had it not 



THE CRONIN CASE. 301 

blurted out of itself about two weeks ago. This was 
the story as he told it on direct examination, but when 
the lawyers for the state took Mr. Redmond McDonald 
in hand, it turned out that the secret had leaked through 
just once before the defense heard of it. This was 
within a week after the murder, when the policeman 
had told another officer — both, strangely enough, mem- 
bers of Camp No. 20 of the Clan-na-Gael. Being 
asked the date of the first revelation, Redmond was 
sure it was within a week after the murder. He re- 
vealed it then because of the accusations which he saw 
in the newspapers against Coughlin. Being asked how 
it happened that he read in the papers articles which 
did not appear until two weeks later, Mr. McDonald 
concluded it would have been better had he kept his 
secret altogether and left Coughlin's alibi in the torn 
condition he had found it. 

A procession of alibi witnesses were next passed in 
review. William Mulcahey, Tom Whelan, Robert 
Boyington, James Knight, James Minnehan and Pat 
Brennan were the half-dozen who swore that on the 
night of May 4th, P. O' Sullivan had gone to bed at 
about 9 o'clock, and that except to open the door for 
three of them an hour later he had lain in bed all that 
night. Further, that Sunday afternoon, May 5th, 
Messrs. James and Jeremiah Hyland had called at 
O' Sullivan's house and had gone out with the iceman 
at 10 o'clock to take a drink and the car for home. 
The unanimity of the witnesses was marvelous as to 
these cardinal facts, just as it was to the fact that at the 
time mentioned all of them were living under the 



302 THE CRONIN CASE. 

O'Sullivan roof, and that, at about the time of the 
p'Sullivan-Cronin contract being ratified, all, or nearly 
all of them, had migrated from a town in Green County, 
Wisconsin, to take up their abode in Lake View. 

Mr. William Mulcahey, under the guidance of Mr. 
Longenecker, knew so much that he got red and blue in 
the face trying to tell it all at once, and O'Sullivan 
himself, seeing his friend in danger of choking by the 
exertion, rose in his place and offered to help him out, 
an offer the judge kindly but firmly "sat down on." 
From bad to worse Mr. Mulcahey floundered in his 
testimony. So muddled did he eventually get that the 
thought seemed to strike Juror Culver that if he had a 
faded overcoat he might be the man who drove Dr. 
Cronin. Mr. Mulcahey's overcoat proved not faded 
and he was told " that's all." 

Tom Whelan, a cousin of the suspect, Coughlin, and 
brother to Mike Whelan, is a gripman on the cable 
road. He pulled through all right so long as Mr. 
Donahoe was conductor, but when Mr. Hynes took his 
turn things were different. Of course cousin Tom 
could tell all about the Hylands coming to supper on 
May 5, and about O'Sullivan going in his underclothes 
to open the door for the three icemen on May 4, and all 
the other "mountain peaks" of O'Sullivan' s alibi. 
But when Mr. Hynes asked him a few questions as to 
the manners and customs of the O'Sullivan household, 
the witness was as balky and erratic as a car-horse. 
Coolly he answered Mr. Hynes' questions off-hand, 
and contradicted himself point-blank in the next 
breath. When he left the witness-chair O'Sullivan's 



THE CRONIN CASE. 303 

alibi was in the condition of a grip-car with the cable 
broken. 

The three icemen who followed — Robert Boyington, 
James Knight and James Minnehan — should have been 
called for any other purpose than establishing an 
alibi. They mangled and tore their master's alibi in 
such a manner that it could not be recognized as any 
article of that kind. May 4 the three men went out to 
play pool, but changed their minds and played cards. 
The route taken by the party was faithfully described 
by each, and the saloon they visited, but they forgot the 
kind of game played and each insisted on a different 
one. Then again, on the Hyland visit, these three men 
told three different stories. In and out, to and fro, 
round and round again, Mr. Hynes had the witnesses 
trampling into unrecognizable shape what had once 
been the delicate alibi of the ex-iceman of Lake View, 
and the attorneys for the defense sat watching the 
wreck they were powerless to prevent. 

As a relief from the wholesale slaughter of alibis, 
Mr. Foster introduced one that held good. This was 
the testimony of Edwin Jones, a reporter for the 
Evening News. He and two other reporters — his 
brother, Harry Jones, and Robert M. Johnson — having 
heard some vague reports of blood-stains in the Carl- 
son cotttage, but not taking any stock in the rumors, 
secured some absorbent cotton and a piece of liver. 
Going into the basement of the cottage, they dis- 
tributed the cotton, stained with blood from the 
liver, in the crevices and rat- holes they found. This 
was as far as Mr. Forrest went with his examination; 



304 THE CRONIN CASE. 

but on cross-examination the witness told Mr. Longe- 
necker that, having disposed of their bloody cotton in 
the basement, they concluded they would go through 
the rest of the house. They broke open the front door, 
saw blood-stains on the front steps and in the front 
room, and footprints in the hall. They took some chips 
from the blood-stained part of the floor. They did not 
take any of their cotton or liver up-stairs. 

"How long were you in the cottage?" asked Mr. 
Longenecker. 

" About a minute or a minute and a halx," was the 
reply. 

" Why did you leave so quickly?" 

" We were fired out by an officer," was the laughing 
response. 

MRS. CONKLIN AND THE WHITE HORSE AGAIN. 

Two or three diversions from the alibi end of the 
defense were made by Mr. Forrest during the after- 
noon. William M. Glenn, a reporter for the Inter 
Ocean, was put on the stand to testify that May 11 he 
had an interview with Mrs. Conklin in which she said 
the horse Capt. Schaack brought to her was not the 
horse that carried Dr. Cronin away; that the horse 
Capt. Schaack brought was a jaded, broken-down nag, 
while the one that carried the Docter away was a 
spirited animal with more action. On the cross-ex- 
amination the witness admitted that at that time he was 
working on the theory that Dr. Cronin was not dead ; 
that the statements were made at the close of a short 
interview in which Mrs. Conklin was reluctant to talk, 



THE CRONIN CASE. 305 

and were in response to repeated and pressing in- 
quiries. 

Another diversion was placing Jacob Schnur, of the 
trunk-manufacturing firm of P. Becker & Co., on the 
stand. He testified that the bloody trunk was manu- 
factured by his firm, was a trunk in common use, sold 
to the trade everywhere, and that the lock and key were 
common locks and keys purchased by his firm in 
hundred-dozen quantities. 

And court was adjourned. 



20 



CHAPTEE XIX. 

November 20 to 29 — An Alibi for Burke — Matt Danahy — Ladies 
on the Stand— Evidence for Burke — A Horde from Camp 20- 
More Alibis — Budenbinder's Bomb — O'Sullivan's Defense- 
To Impeach Mrs. Hoertel — Court Adjourned until November 
26— M^re Alibis Still— The Rebuttal Began— Atomized Alibis 
— Queer Policemen — Hard Swearing to Help Burke — Dr. 
Cronin's Knives — Testimony Ended. 

A tocsin of alarm had been sounded in the ranks of 
the Clan-na-Gael, and from every camp and stronghold 
the doughty warriors poured forth on November 20, 
making the witness room in Judge McConnell's court 
their rendezvous. The terrible havoc wrought in the 
Wisconsin brigade in its rally for the defense of Ice- 
man O' Sullivan, instead of spreading consternation 
among the braves, only stimulated them to fresh feats 
of daring. The call to arms was almost as effect- 
ive and far reaching as the music of the magic flute of 
the "Pied Piper" of Hamlin. From every nook and 
cranny of the municipal stronghold, from saloons, from 
justice shops, from warehouse basements, from lawyers' 
offices and from various other places the warriors 
flocked into court. Even the upper attic, where "a 
weakly American paper with Irish sympathies" (as 
one of the attorneys for the state put it), is edited, 
sent forth its contingent, with a chip on each shoulder. 
Upon the banner beneath which tramps this belligerent 
host was inscribed the single word 

: ALIBI : 



At the head of the procession marched two women, 

(306) 



THE OBONIN CASE. 807 

whose duties were mainly to attend to the sick and 
wounded of the Wisconsin brigade. 

Miss Kate McGormick and Mrs. 1 Anna Whelan, 
cousins of P. O' Sullivan, were the witnesses to whose 
care this work of mercy was entrusted. The story told 
by each was much the same, the main features of which 
consisted of a history of the O' Sullivan household dur- 
ing May 4 and 5, as related the day previous by the 
witnesses from Wisconsin. The only new facts they 
disclosed were that they stayed up until 1 o'clock Sunday 
morning reading story papers and that all the rooms 
and halls in the CK Sullivan mansion were "large." 
Both women evidently knew much and it was all Mr. 
Forrest could do to roll up objections upon objections 
to prevent them telling it. 

They charmed the jury. It mattered not that Mrs. 
Whalen fixed the hour of the Sunday supper, at which 
the Hyland boys were the guests of honor, at an hour 
(8 o'clock) decidedly late; it mattered not that Miss 
McCormick had remembered every sentence of conver- 
sation on that Saturday night, and had never let the 
iceman out of her sight for three long hours; it mat- 
tered not that Mrs. Whelan had heard a conversation 
twenty feet away between an inquisitive newspaper man 
who wanted O' Sullivan to identify Dr. Cronin's 
body; it mattered not that many other facts related 
by the sisters would not hang together well — all 
these little matters weighed naught with the jury, 
who sat spell-bound under the charm of silvery voices 
and bewitching dimples in rosy, peach-like complex- 
ions 



308 THE CRONIN CASE. 

It was an unfortunate circumstance for the warriors 
from Camp No. 20 and other friendly hives, that their 
appearance had been anticipated by the lady witnesses 
for P. O'Sullivan. 

Mr. Forrest's bran-new and gilt-edged alibi for 
Burke appeared already with frayed edges when Matt 
Danahy, the saloon keeper of Chicago avenue, took the 
witness stand. Mr. Danahy and Burke are the personi- 
fication of Damon and Pythias, from a Clan-na-Gael 
standpoint, except that Mr. Danahy has not yet given 
the crowding proof of his affection by offering to ex- 
change his well-stocked saloon for Mr. Burke's cold 
cell. But while that ultimate sacrifice remains in 
abeyance, Mr. Danahy has bestirred himself hugely in 
behalf of his incarcerated friend. He sought out a 
caterer and gave orders that Mr. Burke should enjoy 
"the hoith of foine livin', and aitin,' an' drinkin', " at 
his ( Danahy' s) expense. Mr. Danahy and Mr. Burke 
both came to Chicago from Winnipeg, and both made 
Camp No. 20 their headquarters. 

Mr. Danahy did not stop with catering for his 
friend's appetite. He hunted up as many members of 
Camp No. 20 as he could think of that were likely to 
have lop-sided memories, with strongly developed 
recollections of favorable incidents in the ante -indict- 
ment history of the important suspect. He merely re- 
quired his friends to remember a few minutes of 
Burke's history, but such moments must be scattered 
at various intervals near the night of May 4, when 
Burke and his friends were shaking dice in Danahy's 
saloon. Two of these friends, W. F. Coughlin and J. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 309 

F. O'Malley, were subsequently called to corroborate 
Mr. Matt. Danahy's alibi for Barke, but their state- 
ments did not u fill the bill/' The lawyers for the 
state, instead of allowing Mr. Danahy to depart in a 
perfect halo of Clan-na-Gael glory, undertook to show 
a further similarity between witness and suspect, in- 
asmuch as both of them had called Dr. Cronin foul 
names. Thereupon Mr. Danahy waxed wroth and 
swore he never said such things, and that anybody 
who said he had must have been drunk, if not worse. 

A halt was called in the developments of Burke's 
alibi, for the purpose of introducing evidence for John 
F. Beggs. The gist of this testimony was to the effect 
that five of the Clan-na-Gael men knew nothing of any 
inner circle which witnesses for the state had declared 
to be in the knowledge of the defendant. 

Justice "Dave" Lyon testified that a newspaper that 
had quoted him as one of u the many prominent Irish- 
men who would be called on behalf of Beggs," was 
mistaken. "I never was an Irishman," declared Justice 
L. 

James Lyman was the first out-and-out veteran who 
came to foreswear the existence of an "inner circle." 
Mr. Lyman is a typical camp orator and orated freely, 
but when he was given over to the tender mercies of 
Mr. Hynes, his eloquence, like Bob Acre's courage, 
oozed out at his finger ends. An incident in a down- 
town saloon when the question as to whether the exe- 
cutive of the Clan-na-Gael had ordered Dr Cronin's. 
death, was under discussion, had w T ell nigh slipped the 
memory of witness until recalled by counsel. He 



310 THE CRONIN CASE. 

strenuously denied having justified the murder and 
Counsel Scanlan made a note of two persons who were 
present, to call in rebuttal. 

In quick succession, Walter Gibbons, an extender; 
John F. Finerty, a journalist ; M. P. Brady, a lawyer ; 
Francis T. Gleason, a constable; JohnDwyer, a bailiff; 
M. T. Kean, a salesman, and John S. Mullen, an ex- 
senior guardian, were called to testify that they never 
heard of an inner circle. All of them, save Mr. Fin- 
erty, seemed much relieved to be disposed of quickly, 
but the valiant editor of the "weakly American jour- 
nal with Irish sympathies," braced himself stiffly in 
his chair for an old-fashioned Donnybrook-f air time of 
it under cross-examination, and when Mr. Longenecker 
told him, "That's all," he glowered savagely at the 
jury and stalked out of the court-room, uncertain 
whether the chip had fallen off his shoulder or been 
blown off. 

Mr. Foster called the state's attorney to the witness 
chair in behalf of Beggs. The evidence of the public 
prosecutor, as well as that of Chief Hubbard, who fol- 
lowed, was intended to show that Beggs had not con- 
cealed the Spelman letters from the state and had in- 
formed the chief of police where they could be found. 
And this ended the day's proceedings. 

Thicker than the fog which hung over Chicago, Nov- 
ember 21, was the germ-laden atmosphere of Judge 
McConnell's court-room. Alibi germs floated over the 
crowd which besieged its doors ; alibi germs obscured 
the electric lamps and dropped in flakes on the lawyers' 
tables. Alibi germs were all around and about 



THE CRONIN CASE. 311 

Liveryman Patrick Dinan was the first witness called 
by the defense. He had simply to say that the white 
horse was then on exhibition at a south side museum. 

Mr. Louis Budenbinder, of Hoboken, N. J., was 
sworn. He said he had known Dr. Cronin well, and 
had lived within a few doors of the Conklin flat. He 
left Chicago the day the Doctor's body was found. On 
the night of May 4 he was standing in the doorway of 
a cigar store opposite the Conklin' s home. 

" Only an alibi for the white horse, after all," whis- 
pered a lawyer for the state. So it proved. Mr. Buden- 
binder, the great, important witness of Mr. Forrest, 
said that from his point of observation he had ample 
opportunity to note every detail of the farewell between 
Dr. Cronin and the friend who last saw him alive. 
Every incident of that already historic scene was 
related by the witness. All these matters, however, 
had been told so often that the audience began to grow 
impatient of Mr. Forrest, and the lawyer hastened to 
put the burning question. 

And then it all came out. 

The horse was a gray, with dark legs, and not the 
white-coated animal that Pat Dinan owns. 

(3-eorge Ingham cross-examined the witness at the 
speed of chain lightning. 

Mr. Budenbinder had carefully examined the horse 
and rig as it stood for ten or fifteen minutes in front of 
the Conklin flat, and had carefully noted the appearance 
of Doctor and driver. The reason of Mr. Budenbin- 
der' s careful investigation was that all the parties 
seemed in great haste to get away; hence Mr. Buden- 



312 THE CRONIN CASE. 

binder had carefully jotted down in his memory the 
fact that the horse was dapple gray and had dark legs, 
even before the Doctor had put in an appearance. 

Like other famous alibi witnesses who appeared for 
the defense, Mr. Budenbinder had kept his secret hid- 
den until Mr. Forrest sent for him to Hoboken and 
paid a dime to admit him to the museum where Dinan's 
nag was on view. Then the secret burst forth, and Mr. 
Budenbinder knew no peace until he had declared in 
court the result of his ten cents' worth of investigation. 





BUDENBINDER. MERTES, THE MILKMAN. 

Then commenced the dreariest of all the dreary epi- 
sodes of the trial. Alibis for the accused had been 
admitted to court by right; alibis for the inner circle 
had crawled in by favor of Mr. Foster; an alibi for the 
white horse had just left the witness chair; but nobocjy 
expected that an alibi for the blood corpuscles would be 
forthcoming. But it came all the same. The honors 
of the occasion were divided between Mr. Wing and 
Drs. Ewell, Moyer and Curtis, but at suitable intervals 
Mr. Hynes showed that he was impervious to hypnotic 
influences, and then the air was filled with a cloud of 
alibi corpuscles, while the big attorney for the prose- 



THE CRONIN CASE. 313 

cution pounded the life out of a question nearly a yard 
long which had been chanted by Mr. Wing. The ulti- 
mate result of the testimony - — which was fitly described 
by one in authority as " a duel of experts in which the 
jury had little interest" — was to strengthen the testi- 
mony of Dr. Perkins as to the cause of death on the 
body found in the catch-basin. 

The judge, jury, lawyers and prisoners, waked up, 
and court adjourned for the day. 

Mr. Forrest has been responsible for many dramatic 
contrasts during the course of the trial, but none so 
glaring as between the two first witnesses who appeared 
on November 22d. To the surprise of all, he intro- 
duced for the defense, Mrs. Hoertel, the German washer- 
woman, whose pathetic story of her own marital 
infelicity was so strangely blended with the discovery 
of the missing link in the chain of circumstances con- 
necting Dr. Cronin with the Carlson cottage, and whose 
presence at that spot on the night of May 4th, was the 
means of preserving the dying words of the physician 
as he fell beneath the blows of his murderers. The 
examination of Mrs. Hoertel was in the nature of cross- 
questioning on a minor point — namely : whether there 
was a lock on the door of her house the night of May 
4th. The witness refused to commit herself positively, 
and the lawyer was obliged to let her go without having 
gained his point. 

August Salzman, the next witness, was an exception- 
ally thick-skulled German, on whom the defense relied 
for impeachment of the testimony about Dr. Cronin 
having been seen to enter the Carlson cottage. He 



314 THE CRONIN CASE. 

swore that from April 19th to May 8th he resided with 
the Hoertels and helped fix the lock on the door. He 
was sure he so helped on May 8th. But there his 
memory and intelligence left him and he could remem- 
ber nothing else except that lately he had talked with 
saloonkeeper Ertel, and Ertel had told him to come to 
court. That was all. 

Five minutes later when the medical expert began to 
pour forth his confidences to the jury, the testimony of 
Salzman was forgotten. 

After Dr. Andrews had answered Mr. Wing's ques- 
tions in the manner usual to experts for the defense 
and had pleased Mr. Hynes with an affirmative opinion 
on that lawyer's hypothetical autopsy, the last two 
witnesses of the day were brought forward. Sergeant 
Stift wished to explain that he had made an error 
about the date of the order he found at the station, and 
ex-detective Lowenstein swore that Coughlin and 
"Major" Sampson were the reverse of good friends. 

Thereupon Mr. Forrest announced the case for the 
defense practically closed, except for one or two wit- 
nesses for Kunze, and the court adjourned. 

No testimony was heard Saturday, November 23. 
The illness of Thomas Lynch, the remaining witness 
for the defense, was so serious that even his deposition 
could not be taken. Mr. Forrest said he might have 
one or two more witnesses, but he could not produce 
them until Monday. He thought the defense might 
rest without Mr. Lynch' s testimony. The state's attor- 
neys consented to an adjournment on the understanding 
that the defense would close its case this morning. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 315 

Judge McCormell notified the state to be ready this 
morning to go on with its rebuttal if the defense con- 
cluded to rest without Mr. Lynch' s testimony. The 
rebuttal will not take more than two days, perhaps 
less, and then the defense will speedily close the case 
with its sur-rebuttal. 

The defense in the Cronin murder trial closed on 
Monday, November 25. Although the fag-ends of 
testimony introduced were of comparatively little im- 
portance, the fact that the defense had exhausted all 
the sources whence a scintilla of favorable testimony 
might be forthcoming gives this brief session an im- 
portance of its own. It was expected that one or two 
of the prisoners would go upon the witness-stand in 
his own behalf, but none of the suspects had testified 
when Mr. Forrest declared the case adjourned, nor 
had any of the members of the secret committee which 
the minutes of the meeting of February 8 in Camp 
No. 20 show to have been appointed. Nor had Cough- 
lin's mysterious friend "Smith" who took the horse and 
buggy from Dinan's livery stable. Nor had a dozen 
other persons whom the prosecution had assailed as 
being connected more or less remotely with the con- 
spiracy. 

Although the jury were left unenlightened as to 
many material points on which the prosecution will 
base most damaging arguments, one point at least was 
cleared up by the last witness called for the prisoners. 

" What was the matter with the police?" was a ques- 
tion heard on every tongue when the events between 
May 4 and May 22 had been succintly made public by 



316 THE CRONIN CASE. 

the efforts of the newspapers, two or three weeks after 
the tragedy had taken place. The answer to this ques- 
tion was furnished by Officer Michael J. Crowe. This 
officer and another named Andy Rohan — the latter said 
to be a member of Camp 20 — had been detailed to 
work upon the case by Inspector Ebersold. On the 
day of the post-mortem the two officers had discovered 
Mertes, the milkman who saw Coughlin and Kunze at 
the Carlson cottage the night of May 4. The officers 
interrogated the milkman and made notes of his replies. 
At that time Captain Schaack, of the East Chicago 
avenue station, was conducting the investigation. But 
the officers from Ebersold overlooked Schaack when 
making their reports, except, as Crowe testified, by giv- 
ing in a " general way " the result of their investiga- 
tions. While the Chicago avenue captain was plodding 
along with the limited information at his disposal a 
detailed statement of the conversation between Mertes 
and the detectives was placed in the hands of Inspector 
Ebersold. Portions of the conversation which would 
seriously impair the value of the witness' testimony 
reached neither the state's attorney nor the police who 
had charge of the case, although singularly enough, 
the attorney for Coughlin and Burke was able to read 
from what purported to be a copy of that statement, if 
not the original, when laying the foundation of an 
impeachment of the witness. 

O'Sullivan's alibi, which had proved of such ill- 
fitting construction as applied to the movements of the 
iceman on May 4, was hauled into court again for re- 
pairs. On the testimony of old man Carlson it had 



THE ORONIN CASE. 817 

appeared that the iceman and Burke were on friendly 
terms when the latter, unu. r the imine of Frank Wil- 
liams, had rented t e Carlson cottage. Mr. Carlson 
swore that Burke, after leaving him, met O'Sullivan 
almost at his door, and, in the hearing of the old man, 
had told the iceman that the cottage was now rented. 
To disprove this Attorney Donahoe introduced three 
men — Henry McBride, Dyer Thompson, and the lat- 
ter' s son — who swore that March 20th, O'Sullivan was at 
the Northwestern freight depot watching the unloading 
of two cars of ice. The elder Thompson, who had 
charge of the unloading, brought his book into court 
for the purpose of refreshing his memory, but on 
cross-examination it appears that the cars of which the 
numbers appeared in the book arrived at the freight- 
yard March 19, and were partly unloaded the same 
day. All the witnesses, however, testified strongly 
that the bulk of the ice had been moved to the viaduct 
at Halsted street and the following day O'Sullivan ar- 
rived and witnessed its removal. As none of the ice 
was for the Lake View iceman, and as it was not an 
uncommon thing for O'Sullivan to call at McBride' s 
office — a block away from the viaduct — at about that 
time, the direct conflict of testimony rests only between 
the memory of the elder Carlson and that of the Thomp- 
sons, McBride not being positive as to the date. 

A vigorous protest was entered by all the defending 
lawyers when the prosecution called Dr. Curran as a 
witness in rebuttal. The Doctor had been alluded to 
in the cross-examination of James Lyman, the Camp 
No. 20 man, as having taken part in a conversation 



818 TH*2 OBONIN CASE. 

wherein Lyman was said to have declared the murder 
of Dr. Cronin justifiable and commanded by the execu- 
tive of the order. The discussion on admitting the 
evidence was a long and heated one, and Judge Mc- 
Connell had not rendered his decision when, owing to 
the absence of witnesses, the court adjourned at 3 
o'clock P. M. 

The evidence given on Tuesday, November 26, 
although of not material importance to either side, was 
not lacking in the point of the number of witnesses 
called. 

The prosecution opened with Messrs. Bailey Dawson 
and Col. Babcock, who flatly contradicted the statement 
of the witness Gleason that on May 4 he introduced 
Beggs to them at the Grand Pacific Hotel. 

August Salzman, the Hoertel's lodger, will be re- 
membered for his testimony. The prosecution proved 
this day that Salzman was not to be believed under 
oath, by Chris Thiessen, E. A. King, Chas. Bafoth, 
Chas. Newmann, Fredk. Hockirch, and Gustav Brunke. 

That Hoertel bought the lock prior to May 4 was 
sworn to by Mrs. Brunz, the wife of a locksmith in 
Lake View, and Salzman' s reputation after the rebuttal 
testimony was as badly demolished as O'Sullivan's 
alibi. 

But the prosecution was not content to rest there. 
Burke's slim alibi, which scarcely needed attack, was 
totally uprooted by the testimony of Simon Oleson and 
Fredk. Swanson, who had another story to tell of the 
whereabouts of J. F. O'Malley and Wm. Coughlin, 
who swore that they saw Burke at Danahy's bar on 



THE CRONXN CASE. (119 

May 4. Then saloon-keeper Niemann and a neighbor 
of Lib, A. B. Anderson, swore that instead of the Hyland 
boys and O' Sullivan being in the saloon alone on the 
night of May 5, as they said they were, there had 
been from fifteen to twenty-five people in the place 
from 7 o'clock until midnight. 

Inspector Ebersold was called to disprove the state- 
ments of Officer Crowe, thus throwing the blame of 
the inefficiency of the police upon the subordinates, 
and Officer Chesterfield Smith swore that the first 
intimation of Dan Coughlin's connection with the mur- 
der appeared in the newspapers of May 25, thus con- 
tradicting the statement of Officer McDonald, that he 
had seen something of the kind in the papers within a 
week after the assassination. 

An adjournment until Friday, November 29th, was 
agreed upon, partly in consequence of the fatal illness 
of a little daughter of Juror North, and partly by the 
intervention of Thanksgiving Day. 
. In the lull of court proceedings, the police's neglect 
of duty or worse, may be looked into briefly. Mayor 
Cregier has known for some time that the greatest 
difficulty met with by. the prosecution in securing evi- 
dence against the accused assassins of Dr. Cronin came 
from the lukewarm detective work of certain officers 
assigned to the case — to put it mildly. 

The handicap began the first day that Detective Dan 
Coughlin and Mike Whelan started out to look for the 
body of the murdered Doctor. The party of searchers 
looked in every manhole and catch-basin in Lake View 
excepting the two that contained the body and the 



320 THE OEONIN CASE. 

clothes. The next point where the police were thrown 
off the scent was when Detectives O'Malley and Kelly 
of West Twelfth street station secured the first " con- 
fession " from Woodruff and circulated it freely, mak- 
ing it appear that the murdered man had been engaged 
in some questionable work and had fled the city. Then 
Officer Brown of Cottage Grove avenue station, who 
caused Dr. Cronin to be tried in a Clan-na-Gael camp 
on a charge of treason, suddenly lost his memory and 
could give no assistance in uncovering the motive for 
putting the physician out of the way. Detectives Andy 
Rohan and Michael Crowe were next assigned to the 
case, and they "assisted" by not reporting to their 
superiors anything of any importance. All these men 
are believed to have been in more or less sympathy 
with the accused, being Irishmen themselves and most 
of them members of the Clan-na-Gael. 

Detective Harry Palmer followed them on the case, 
he being a man who was considered by the Chief of 
Police to be " as straight as a string " and incorruptible. 
Just previous to the exposure of the jury-bribing plot 
it became very evident that Palmer was not turning up 
anything from the important clews placed in his hands 
to investigate. There was no time for an investigation 
at that stage of the case, so Palmer was assigned to 
other duty without any cause being given. 

From this the state went ahead collecting evidence 
with the assistance of men on whom no well defined 
suspicion rested. It was thought at last that the Clan- 
na-Gaels on the force had been baffled, when, behold ! 
Officers "Bed" McDonald and John Stift took the 



THE CRONIN CASE. 321 

witness stand and attempted to establish an alibi for 
Dan Cougiilin. They testified to facts which were in- 
tended to save Coughlin's neck, but about which they 
had never breathed a word to their superiors. It was 
as unexpected as if some one had hurled a bomb into 
the court-room. 

Next came Detective Crowe with his testimony for 
the defense, which he claimed to have reported to both 
Captain Schaack and Inspector Ebersold, but which 
both positively deny. All of these officers, with the 
exception of Whelan and Brown, are still on the 
police force, and just why they are permitted to draw a 
salary from the city would make a chapter of interest- 
ing reading. 

Chief of Police Hubbard refused to be interviewed 
on the subject, although he admitted some things which 
are startling to a great degree. He did not deny the 
fact that he has had as much trouble watching certain 
officers under suspicion as he had collecting evidence 
for the prosecution. 

"I have already discharged a number of men," said 
he, "because it was learned wherein they had been 
false to their trusts." 

Further than that the chief would not say, but from 
other sources it was learned that a radical cleaning out 
was about to take place, and that the Mayor would be 
the one to inaugurate it. 

This is as it should be. While a part of the police 

force of Chicago has won the respect and gratitude of 

all good citizens by the zeal, labor, and intelligence 

displayed in performing the work set for them to do in 
21 



322 THE CRONIN CASE. 

the Cronin case, another part has shown itself to be 
worthless and criminal, active only in defending assas- 
sins and defeating justice. The good officers should 
be freed from the disgrace of associating with those 
members of the force, who should be in the prisoners' 
row. The false servants of the public should be dis- 
missed at once, and speedily punished to the full extent 
of the law. 

FINIS NOVEMBER 29. 

The last day of evidence, the day when Burke's 
Clan-na-Gael friends swore so desperately and perjured 
themselves so willingly to help him with his alibi. In 
the afternoon of that day, November 29, Dan Cough- 
lin's fate was sealed. Two little pocket knives did it. 
One was a pearl-handled affair with four blades, the 
other a tortoise shell handle, such as might adorn a 
lady's work-basket or a manicure case. And they were 
wrapped in a piece of common brown paper, making a 
harmless looking little package, such as one might kick 
under foot on the sidewalk, not stooping to examine it. 

But to Dan Coughlin the terrors of the gallows 
seemed wrapped in that innocent looking package. 
Men who were in court when the pen-knives were pro- 
duced, and who had witnessed many a public execution, 
declared that they had never seen a human face so 
marked with fearful agony. 

The pen-knives were the property of Dr. Cronin, and 
had been unearthed as if by a miracle. 

A whisper went around the lawyers' and reporters' 
tables late in the afternoon when the defense had 



THE CRONIN CASE. 323 

declared its testimony complete. An echo of the 
whisper reached the prisoners' row, and was repeated 
to Dan Coughlin by Mr. Forrest's associate, Qualey. 
While the state's attorney was on his feet making the 
startling announcement that at the eleventh hour of the 
trial the prosecution felt it imperative to beg to be 
allowed to introduce fresh evidence in chief, the face 
of the ex-detective assumed a pallor that was more ter- 
rible than anything seen during the trial. When Judge 
McConnell summoned the public prosecutor to his desk 
to be confidentially informed of the nature of the new 
testimony, Dan Coughlin leaned back in his chair, his 
head thrown back until his eyes looked straight at the 
ceiling, a great struggle to appear calm being visible 
throughout his entire frame. 

The conference between judge and state's attorney 
ended, the latter returned to his place, and over and 
above the rattle of objections, now sneering, now explo- 
sive, from the attorney of the ex-detective, the voice 
of Mr. Longenecker was heard calling for Officer 
Flynn, and while the audience turned expectantly in 
the direction of the witness-room, Coughlin made a 
superhuman effort to control himself. Sitting bolt 
upright in his chair, he thrust his tongue against his 
cheek, as if searching for a lost chew of tobacco, 
stretching his face in every shape to hide the only too 
apparent twitchings, tugging nervously at his collar, 
as if a sudden choking were responsible for the crimson 
hue which had succeeded the pallor of a moment before. 

The words of Clerk Lee administering the oath to 
the witness had died away and the state's attorney had 



324 THE CRONIN CASE. 

asked the preliminary question as to the witness' 
name ere Dan Coughlin nerved himself for a look at 
the witness chair. For a moment it appeared as if the 
big suspect must faint under the fearful strain. He 
spoke as with the ague; his distorted features shrunk 
into a hideous scowl ; from beneath his shaggy eye- 
brows his piercing eyes, distended to twice their nor- 
mal size, glared frantically at the contents of the little 
package which the witness had mechanically begun to 
unfold; while a frenzy akin to madness seemed to have 
taken possession of the ex-detective. 

It was a very brief story that Bartholomew Flynn 
had to tell, but it was deadly as a rifle-ball in effect. 

When Coughlin was arrested and after he had been 
confronted with the chief of police and other city and 
state officials, he was given in charge of Officer Flynn, 
then of the central station. The first ignominy which 
distinguishes a prisoner from a free citizen — the 
searching of him — revealed a clue, which, strangely 
enough, was not noticed until months later, when all 
the evidence in the possession of the state had been 
sworn to before a jury. 

On searching the prisoner Officer Flynn discovered 
a revolver and two pen-knives. For months the re- 
volver and pen-knives lay in the officer's locker at the 
central station, and when Flynn was removed to the 
Chicago avenue station he transferred the articles 
taken from the ex-detective to a box at a safety deposit 
vault. The trial was nearly ended when an accident 
brought to Flynn' s memory the almost forgotten arti- 
cles in the deposit vault. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 325 

Officer Flynn's wife was reading some of the testi- 
mony in the case and it suddenly occurred to him that 
the knives might be of importance. He reported the 
circumstance to his superior officer. Thinking it pos- 
sible that the knives might be those used in the mur- 
der, Captain Schuettler proceeded to the deposit vault, 
opened the box and was much disappointed to find only 
two small pen-knives, instead of the deadly weapons 
for which he had hoped. 

Mr. T. T. Conklin, the friend of Dr. 
Cronin, was called to identify the two 
knives. The white pearl-handled knife 
he had given the Doctor after having 
carried it himself for two years, the 
smaller knife he had found on the street 
a year and a half ago, had taken it 
home, and afterward gave it also to the Doctor. He 
had seen the Doctor using such a knife within a short 
time before his death. The larger one the Doctor car- 
ried in his trousers pocket, the smaller in his vest. 
The sanctity of an oath prevented Mr. Conklin from 
swearing to that which no human being could swear — 
namely, that the pen knives found on Coughlin were 
the identical ones carried by Dr. Cronin and had been 
taken from him. But the moral effect was the same, 
and in no mind did there or could there exist a shadow 
of doubt, and like many other witnesses of the man's 
agony, the jury-men must have perceived in the writh- 
ing, gasping prisoner sitting between Beggs and O'Sul- 
livan, the evidence of absolute truth in the statements 
to which Mr. Conklin could only vouch his opinion. 




326 THE CKONIN CASE. 

With this dramatic finale to the last day when testi- 
mony was to be heard in the Cronin trial, was dispelled 
the miasma arising from the witnesses called to defend 
two of Burke's alibi witnesses from a charge of per- 
jury. "I will prove that Swanson was guilty of rank 
perjury," Mr. Forrest had said in court before the 
lawyers for the defense had appeared. 

Swanson's testimony was a direct contradiction to 
that of John F. O'Malley and W. F. Coughlin, who 
swore that on May 4 they had taken a carriage to a 
saloon on West Van Buren street, calling on their way 
at Matt. Danahy's saloon, where they claimed to have 
seen Martin Burke. Swanson, who drove the carriage, 
not only denied having been at Danahy's saloon, 
where Burke was alleged to have been seen, but 
flatly maintained that Coughlin was not in the car- 
riage and that the party did not go to the West side 
saloon. 

To weaken driver Swanson's story of the doings 
that night, Mr. Forrest brought up a horde of witnesses, 
beside whom the members of Camp No. 20 were the 
personification of gentility. By their own admission 
they were of the following grades: saloonkeepers, bar- 
tenders, loafers and hangers-on at saloons. Their story 
of the Bacchanalian festival at the West Van Buren street 
saloon, while the assassins in the Carlson cottage were 
perpetrating their fiendish work, was endowed with the 
character of expert testimony. 

That the jury would not believe a hundred of such 
witnesses against the word of the Swedish hack-driver 
was foreseen to a certain extent, and a thread of a sec- 



THE CKONIN CASTS, 327 

ond story had been interwoven in the collective testi- 
mony to give it a sense of truth. , 

The narrative within the narrative was to the effect 
that the driver and O'Malley, previous to returning 
home, had exchanged coats and hats, O'Malley in the 
driver's livery mounting the box, and the driver in 
O'Malley' s frock coat, riding inside. But Mr. Forrest's 
witnesses were not capable of carrying such a neatly 
concocted story in their memories without tripping 
each other at most awkw r ard places. One of the wit- 




JAMES F. BOLAND. 

nesses, named Fortune, was in a semi-maudlin state of 
intoxication when on the witness-stand, and he cer- 
tainly told part of the truth when he declared that he 
didn't know anything about it, and that he was five or six 
times drunker on May 4th than he was at that moment. 
Each of the witnesses swore that the livery which 
O'Malley wore on the return trip had "brass buttons," 
"shining brass buttons," or "buttons that looked like 
brass." But according to previous testimony the coat 
driver Swanson wore that night not only lacked these 
ornaments, but was not even a livery coat. 



328 THE CRONIN CASE. 

The first witness called was Bernard F. Carberry^ 
whose looks and speech carried honesty in every line. 
He said he had reason to be near the saloon in question 
on that night, and not only was Danahy absent, but 
Burke was nowhere to be seen, and despite a host of 
tricky questions by Mr. Forrest the witness adhered to 
his statement. 

But Mr. Forrest's cup of misfortune was not yet full. 
During his cross-examination of one of his witnesses 
by Mr. Hynes, he ran afoul of a buzz-saw again. 

" No cheap wit on a butcher boy," he shouted, and 
quick as a flash came the answer. 

"If you will keep silent there will be no cheap 
wit." 

And Mr. Forrest kept silent. 



CHAPTEB XX. 

Mr. Beggs' Error— Two Days of Terrible Denunciation— Narra- 
tive of the Murder — Contracted to Kill Dr. Cronin — Partner- 
ship in Crime — Burke's Flight— His " Hands Were Red With 
Blood" — Coughlin's Wife and the Prisoners' Friends Listen — 
Demeanor of the Accused. 

The hearing of evidence in this wonderful case closed 
on November 29, after the dramatic introductory of Dr. 
Cronin's knives, which were found upon Dan Cough- 
lin, and after a few witnesses had contributed to the 
demolition of the flimsy alibis for the defendants, while 
a few on the other side tried to back them up. 

It must be the conclusion of all who have read the 
evidence thus far that these men, whether policemen or 
saloonkeepers, who swore so positively as to the where- 
abouts of Burke and his associates on the night of the 
4th of May, made a mistake in the date. It seems 
impossible, let us hope, for the credit of human 
nature, that such a number of men, even though 
they did belong to Camp 20, would go on the stand 
and perjure themselves to save any one from the 
gallows, but it is quite probable that, remembering 
meetings with Coughlin and Burke early in May, and 
willing to think one of these was on May 4th, they 
concluded that they could say and prove it so, and so 
did say. Such things have often happened. Thus Mr. 
Beggs was quite confident that he met two well-known 
republicans at the Grand Pacific Hotel on the night of 
May 4, and one man testified in support of this asser- 

(329) 



330 THE CRONXN CASE. 

tion. But it turned out afterward that this meeting 
was just a week later. 

Mr. Beggs had not explained up to the day closing 
the hearing of testimony where he was on that memor- 
able night — whether he was waiting to hear the report 
of the special committee or working on some intricate 
law case, under the midnight lamp, in the seclusion of 
his office. 

It was 4 o'clock p. M., when testimony closed. 
Instead of asking for an adjournment State's Attorney 
Longenecker at once began his closing argument to 
the jury, leading off for the prosecution. ' 

There were no tricks of oratory in his speech. 
He did not emulate Mark Antony over the body 
of Caesar, but gave the jurors a plain, straightfor- 
ward, logical history of the case, restating the testi- 
mony, and effecting far more than if he tore a passion 
to tatters. 

•Much that he said on this first day of speech-making 
was preliminary, going over the same ground as was 
covered by his opening address. 

So much of the speech is used in quoting evidence 
and fact already proven that we shall omit all but the 
argument and strong points in this able presentation 
of the state's attorney. 

One of these strong points in his discourse was 
made when, referring to the appointment of the secret 
committee in Camp No. 20, he alluded to Coughlin's 
having suggested such a committee, a suggestion which 
entitled the man making it to the chairmanship of such 
committee. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 831 

When the court adjourned the speaker had only got 
over Camp No. 20 evidence, and was referring to the 
Spelman correspondence. 

The rest of the speech of the first day was a mas- 
terly review of the evidence up to the point we have 
mentioned. But as it would be simply a repetition of 
matter previously related and presented in various 
forms on our pages, it is unnecessary to repeat it as 
exhibited in this speech. 

Judge Longenecker continued on November 30 the 
story of the killing of Dr. Cronin and the part therein 
taken by each of the defendants in the murder. 

He presented the facts to the jury, before many 
friends of the accused who were present. Mourning 
veils and habiliments of woe occupied the benches 
within the bar. A kindly spirit toward the unfortu- 
nate relatives of the men on trial had suggested to the 
lawyers entrusted with admission tickets to have the 
friends of the prisoners who desired to do so, attend 
court during the speeches of Messrs. Longenecker and 
Wing — the one expected to be the most dispassionate 
on the part of the state, the other to make the appeal 
of appeals to the feelings of the jury on behalf of the 
accused. Friendly nods of recognition were exchanged 
between the occupants of the prisoner's row and women 
in mourning apparel sitting in court. Kunze, Martin 
Burke, John F. Beggs, and P. O' Sullivan, each had 
their friends in court — but Daniel Coughlin's wife and 
childwere his only visitors, for these were there — the wife 
of this man, with their prattling little one, to hear the 
terrible charge leveled against the husband and father. 



332 THE CRONIN CASE. 

But their presence did not cause the state's attorney 
to handle one whit more gently the history of the 
crime charged against the five. Without oratorical 
flourishes or dramatic gestures, without startling con- 
trasts or strained hyperbole, in language often verging 
into incoherency as the deluge of facts threatened to 
dam up the speaker's flow of words, Mr. Longenecker 
continued the story of the murder of Dr. Cronin and 
recited the part taken by each of the defendants in the 
tragedy. The bluntness of speech was lost sight of 
in the vivid baring of the facts of the great conspiracy. 
Names of dozens of witnesses, sentences from their 
testimony, the chronological order of the workings of 
the conspiracy, the bearing of each upon the other, 
and of all upon the accused on trial, were related by 
the public prosecutor, without reference to notes, in a 
manner that spoke wonders for his marvelous memory. 

From the meeting in Camp No. 20, where the 
speaker left off the previous night, he traced the con- 
spiracy through the reunion meeting of February 22, 
the hiring of the Clark street flat February 20, the 
purchase of the furniture at Revell'.s, the presence of 
Kunze and a tall man in the Clark street flat early in 
April, the appearance of Martin Burke as tenant of the 
Carlson cottage, the meeting of Coughlin and O'Sulli- 
van in Mahoney's saloon four days after O' Sullivan had 
learned from Burke that the cottage was rented, the 
threats against a "North Side Catholic" by Coughlin in 
the saloon, the organization of a literary society in 
Lake View March 29, when Cronin and O 1 Sullivan 
met; the payment of a second month's rent on the 



THE CRONIN CASE. 333 

Carlson cottage almost simultaneous with O'Sullivan's 
declarations about intending to make a contract with 
Dr. Cronin, the printing of new cards by the iceman, 
the formal making of a contract when the ruse that 
led the Doctor to his death was literally foretold, the 
final dispatching of Dinan's horse and buggy which 
carried the Doctor to his doom — all these details were 
rehearsed — not a thread or shred of evidence being 
neglected in the terrible charge. 





JOHN J. CRONIN. "LARRY" BUCKLEY. 

Amid the hurricane of denunciation the five men on 
trial presented a strange contrast of demeanor. Twice 
on the mention of his name, young Kunze spoke out, 
charging the state's attorney with lying. Burke sat 
stolid and apparently indifferent. An occasional smile 
or sneer played around the features of Beggs, while P. 
O' Sullivan alternately scowled and looked piteously 
around for a friendly look of sympathy But Dan 
Coughlin, scored as the chairman of the secret com- 
mittee by the prosecutor, gazed longingly in the direc- 
tion whence, during the intervals ^hen the speaker's 
voice dropped from fierce invective to quiet argument, 



334 THE CRONIN CASE. 

the sound of a child's cough and the patter of baby 
feet on the court-room floor, told him that those to 
whom his life was more sacred than to a trinity of Tri- 
angles, shared with him the agony he endured. 

RESUMING SPEECH AND ARGUMENT. 

Mr. Longenecker said: 

" Yesterday evening I wanted to call your attention 
to what was said and done at the meeting February 
22, that is, the reunion. You will remember that Mr. 
Beggs spoke of it in his letter to Spelman, that he said 
not to forget their reunion. At that meeting, if you 
remember, speeches were made by different parties ; 
and among them Patrick McGarry made a speech and 
John F. Beggs, senior guardian of Camp No. 20, an- 
swered that speech. You may not remember what 
was said on that occasion, and I will, therefore, read 
just what Patrick McGarry stated to you." 

Here Mr. Longenecker read over the celebrated 
speech of Mr. McGarry at Camp No. 20. 

Next was taken up the appointment of the secret 
committee, of which Coughlin was chairman, and the 
actions of Coughlin and others against Cronin are thus 
briefly summed up: 

"Coughlin says, at a meeting on March 1, to Henry 
Owen O'Connor, 'It is learned that there are other Le 
Carons among us, and we have got it pretty straight 
that it is Dr. Cronin.' This was on the 1st day of 
March. Singular, is it not, that February 8 the motion 
was made for the committee in Camp No. 20; February 
16 Senior Guardian Beggs is writing about the matter 
to Edward Spelman; the 17th he again writes about it; 
the 19th the flat is rented at 117 Clark street; the 20th 
the carpet was nailed dow r n ; February 22 Beggs defends 



THE CRONIN CASE. 335 

the Triangle, and the first day of March this man 
Coughlin, who is on trial now for his life, denounces 
Dr. Cronin as a spy. Why was this done? Why 
should he tell Henry Owen O'Connor that he was a 
spy ? Follow him along and you find that it was he who, 
February 8, said in meeting of Camp No. 20, that there 
were spies in the camp. It was he who moved for the 
appointment of the secret committee to try Dr. Cronin; 
it was he who on the 22d spoke about there being spies 
in the camp, and now he whispers into, the ear of 
Henry Owen ! Connor that this man Cronin is a spy. 
But Henry Owen O'Connor turned on his heels and 
would not have it, said he did not believe it and 
walked away." 

Whom the committee reported to, was next taken 
up, and after recalling the fact that on May 3rd, at a 
meeting, in reply to a question about the report of 
that secret committee, Senior Guardian Beggs had, 
with hand uplifted, replied: "That committee reports 
to me alone." 

Mr. Longenecker continued: 

"April 29, on the south side in this city, as testified 
to by Beggs' friend, Spelman, the district member, it 
is conclusively shown to what this committee had 
reference which was to report to John F. Beggs alone. 
What did Beggs say on that date ? He said to Spel- 
man, 'That matter has allbeen amicably settled.' How 
settled? Gentlemen, at the hour he spoke the cottage 
had been rented; at the hour he spoke the final ar- 
rangements had been made; at the hour he spoke the 
sentence had been fixed. [Sensation.] At the hour 
he spoke it had been amicably settled. It only re- 
quired the consummation of the plans then made to 
perfect this 'amicable settlement.' Now, was there 
anything in the camp, or in the testimony of its mem- 



336 THE CRONIN CASE. 

bers, that showed that it had been amicably settled? 
Is there any one here who said that he had visited Dr. 
Cronin's camp to see why he read the report, or is there 
any one who says that any investigation had been 
made, or that anything had been done whatever in 
connection with the avowed object of that committee? 
No. Then why was it that Beggs said, 'it had been 
amicably settled.' Because he and the committee 
had secretly agreed that certain things had to be done 
and would be done; and therefore there was no need 
of further investigation." 




FRANK T. SCANLAN. 

Then was taken up the renting of the Carlson cot- 
tage by Burke, otherwise Williams; next the O'Sulli- 
van contract with the Doctor; once more was told the 
story of that fatal trip on the evening of May 4 behind 
Dinan's old white horse. Events and the actions of 
the accused after the murder; the attempt of the con- 
spirators to mislead the Doctor's friends and the pub- 
lic; bungling efforts to destroy proof, the finding of 
the body and clothing, all the details regarding each of 
these points were briefly but sufficiently gone over, 

Bef erring to Burke, the prosecutor said: 



THE CRONIN CASE. 337 

"Martin Burke, as soon as the body is discovered, 
is found in Winnipeg. We find him there under an 
assumed name on his way to Europe. We find him 
there, and he is brought back under the laws of extra- 
dition for this charge of murder. For months, or 
for days and weeks before he could be removed, he put 
the courts to investigating as to whether he should 
return or not. Martin Burke flies away from Camp 
No. 20. 

"Martin Burke leaves his friend Coughlin, his friend 
O'Sullivan, and he goes away from his camp off to Win- 
nipeg. He says he has been in Hancock working for 
Eyan. All Martin Burke did in this case was to rent 
the cottage? If that was all, if it was rented for a 
lawful purpose, then why should he go to Winnipeg 
and thence to the old country? Why should he flee 
the State of Illinois ? It was because Martin Burke 
rented the cottage for an unlawful purpose. It was 
because Martin Burke moved the furniture in for an 
unlawful purpose. It was because Martin Burke was 
in the cottage and dealt the blows that beat out the life 
of Dr. Cronin. It was because his hands were red with 
the blood of a human being. 

"Now, gentlemen, I have gone over the evidence as 
rapidly as I could, and at the same time got it in con- 
nection. There may be a great many things, and there 
are, that I have omitted, but my intention has been to 
keep your minds directed to the chain of circumstances. 
But if you want to get at this case, if you want to boil 
it down, if you want to write the history of the case, 
you want to write it: T contract for the medical services 
of Dr. Cronin.' — Patrick O'Sullivan. 'I contract for 
a cottage.' — Martin Burke. T contract for a horse 
and buggy for my friend.' — Daniel Coughlin. Draw 
your line now and write, 'Committee of Three.' 
Write again: 'I contract for your life,' — Patrick 

22 



338 THE CRONIN CASE. 

O' Sullivan. 'I contract for a horse and buggy to 
drive you to death. 1 — Daniel Coughlin. 'I rent a 
cottage in which to strike out your life.' — Martin 
Burke. Draw a line and write again, 'The committee 
reports to the senior guardian alone.' — John F. Beggs. 

"Gentlemen, I have finished." 

When the state's attorney had concluded he received 
congratulations on every side. For seven months the 
public prosecutor scarcely knew rest day or night, and 
the result of his labors, attested to by "mountains" of 
evidence, was given to the jury in a manner worthy of 
the reputation of the gentleman and the energetic 
character of one who was the chief engineer in the 
gigantic enterprise. 



CHAPTEE XXI. 

Mr. Wing's Hour — Monday, December 2 — An Alibi for Those 
Knives — Mr. Wing Resumes— Sophistry and Adjectives — All 
the Accused are "Innocent, Much Abused Citizens" — What 
Mr. Wing Did and Did Not Say — Mr. Ingham Speaks — Logic 
and Invective — The Story Graphically Told— Kunze Cries Out 
— Bound by Ties of Hatred — A Hurricane of Eloquence. 

After the closing of the presentment by the state's 
attorney on Saturday, November 30th, there still re- 
mained one hour before the time of adjournment and 
the court called upon Mr. Wing, of counsel for the de- 
fense, to begin his address. Mr. Wing evidently did 
not intend to go into the actualties of his case for an 
hour only and then allow a day to pass before resum- 
ing. He spoke during the sixty minutes remaining of 
the day on the uncertainty of circumstantial evidence, 
and how liable courts, lawyers and jurors were to make 
mistakes in judging such cases. He cited the Hull 
murder in New York to show how fallacious circum- 
stances were in fixing guilt, and called upon the jurors 
to throw aside all prejudices and suspicion and judge 
the case by the rules of law and evidence. On the 
points of the Cronin case he touched not, nor did he 
make any direct reference thereto, and the court ad- 
journed until Monday morning at 10 o'clock. 

"If the court please," said Mr. Forrest, at the open- 
ing of the trial on Monday morning, December 2, "we 
are ready to introduce some evidence." 

"Very well ; call your first witness," said the court. 

(339) 



340 THE CRONIN CASE. 

August Lowenstein, a clothing merchant, then testi- 
fied on behalf of the defense : That he had made a pair 
of trousers for Coughlin on April 27, 1889, that they 
had been altered in the store at that time by John S. 
Pope, who lengthened them. That Coughlin changed 
his old trousers for the new ones there, taking every- 
thing out of the pockets of the old ones and laying the 
articles on a chair. The witness said he saw on the 
chair some keys and two knives and he wanted to take 
one of the knives, the light-colored one. 

On cross-examination, witness said he only glanced 
at the knives and reached for one, but Coughlin said 
he could not have it. The books of the store did not 
show that Coughlin had bought trousers there, but 
witness and his brother knew it and fixed the fact and 
date from entries relative to the sale of the trousers. 

Jacob Lowenstein, brother of August, said that he 
had been detective partner of, and traveled with Cough- 
lin from September, 1887, to February, 1889. He had 
seen Dan Coughlin's pocket-knives often — one of them 
he had himself. The knives were handed to him and 
he said: 

"This one, the large one, is Dan Coughlin's. I 
know from the way it is ground. He had a way of 
standing at the station and grinding the point down on 
the sandstone of the steps. I know this is Dan 
Coughlin's knife as much as I know that the knife I 
have here is my knife." 

Ex-Detective "Jake" Lowenstein left the police 
force on May 11. Unless he be much belied his repu- 
tation is none of the best. When, in this case, the 



THE CRONIN CASE. 341 

prosecution on cross-examination offered to show up 
this witness' record, Judge McOonnell wisely declared 
that there was no occasion to do so. The question of 
veracity lies between Mr. Conklin and the Lowenstein 
brothers, and the verdict of the jury will show whether 
number of witnesses or their individual evidence con- 
stitute the preponderance of proof. 

There was a complete change of front in the line of 
defense of the Cronin suspects when Mr. Wing once 
started in to deal directly with the testimony or the 
subject generally and the characters of the accused. 
Sophistry was substituted for alibis, adjectives for 
exceptions. 

As a strange blending of fragments of truth with 
ingenious sophistry the first speech for the defense 
was a marvel; as an ex parte argument which might 
have gained considerable attention had it not been 
burdened by the damaging alibi testimony, it was a 
masterpiece; as a collection of neatly turned phrases 
it was admirable, but as a reply to the sledge-hammer 
denunciations of the state's attorney it was a nonentity. 

The opening sentences of Mr. Wing's address were 
prolific of many wholesome truths. That the judge 
and jury had nothing to do with the " innocence" as 
the speaker declared, sounded like a continuation of 
Mr. Longenecker's speech, the beginning and end of 
which w r as "guilt." Next the speaker touched upon 
"sanguinary verdicts." The "thirdly" of Mr. Wing's 
preface was " The necessity of circumstances being 
only consistent with guilt." Instead of following the 
beaten path of the conspiracy, combating each circum- 



342 THE CKONIN CASE. 

stance with argument, Mr. Wing plunged headlong 
into the charge against his client, Coughlin, and opened 
up at a point when, according to the theory of the 
state, the tragedy was already an accomplished fact, 
and the perpetrators were resting after their bloody 
work. The evidence of Niemann, the saloon-keeper, 
who saw Coughlin, O'Sullivan and Kunze in the neigh- 
borhood of the Carlson cottage one hour before mid- 
night on May 4, was the first point of attack. Con- 
trasting the identification by this witness with that by 
the members of the O' Sullivan household and the 
Hyland boys, Mr. Wing, with outstretched finger 
toward a juror, asked: 

"In the name of heaven, sir, which should be be- 
lieved ?" 

"Do you ckmbtthe Hyland boys?" he again asked. 

From Niemann's testimony Mr. Wing next turned 
his attention to the treatment accorded alibi witnesses 
by the attorneys for the state, and incidentally scored 
Juror Culver soundly for daring to suspect that Mul- 
cahey, O'Sullivan' s alleged bed-fellow, might have been 
the driver of Dinan's horse and buggy. All eyes were 
instantly turned to the corner where Juror Culver sat, 
his head bent low during the verbal castigation, and 
smiles were visible among the jury at the discomfiture 
of their fellow- juror. Realizing his error in making 
such an attack, Mr. Wing adroitly turned the point and 
scored one in his own favor by declaring that the juror's 
action in sending for the overcoat was the only natural 
course after the question by the state. But when Maj. 
Sampson, the man* to whom Coughlin suggested an at- 



THE CRONIN CASE. 343 

tack to " do up" Dr. Cronin, came under the lash of 
Attorney Wing, then the sparks began to fly and did fly 
fast and furious. 

Where Mr. Forrest had raised objections, taken ex- 
ceptions and moved exclusions to certain pieces 
of evidence, Mr. Wing argued, or asserted, that 
the evidence was not worth the breath spent in 
telling it. Niemann's testimony ought to be 
dropped, Sampson's testimony ought to be dropped, 
Kettner's testimony ought to be dropped, Mertes' testi- 
mony ought to be dropped, Dinan's horse and buggy, 
Camp No. 20, Mrs. Conklin's identification, Dan Cough- 
lin's incriminating admissions — everything ought to be 
dropped. He referred to the prisoners on trial as 
" Citizens, who, for aught you know, may be as inno- 
cent of the Doctor's death as your children at home." 
A suggestion that instead of five members of Camp 
No. 20 being indicted for murder, it would be only fair 
that at least twenty-one — the majority who voted for 
the secret committee — should have taken their places in 
the prisoners' dock, seemed to merit more approval at 
the hands of the jury than anything the speaker said, 
and he abruptly changed the subject. 

And this is about the substance of Mr. Wing's 
address of Monday. 

THINGS SAID AND THINGS LEFT UNSAID. 

Judge Wing finished his able talk to the jury on 
Tuesday morning, December 3d. It was nearly a two 
days' talk, in which he had not a word to say of the 
renting by Burke under a false name of the Carlson 



344 THE CRONIN CASE. 

cottage and the rooms on Clark street opposite Dr. 
Cronin's office. There was no explanations as to what 
he wanted with the big trunk he was carrying around 
with him. Judge Wing should have taken another 
day and made these matters clear to the jury, who have 
not as yet had a word of explanation from the defense 
as to why this man Burke happened to rent the cottage 
in which it has been proven that Dr. Cronin was mur- 
dered, whether he occupied it the night of the murder, 
when he gave it up, and who this man Simmons was 
that was there with him. It was all right to warn the 
jury against the dangers of trusting to circumstantial 
evidence, such as the identification of Burke with the 
place where Cronin was murdered, but it would have 
been much better to have explained that remarkable 
coincidence and prove it had no relevancy. Judge 
Wing evidently did not care to " tackle " such a task, 
as he announced a " back-down " in a certain degree, 
in the conclusion of his speech. 

MR. INGHAM FOR THE STATE. 

Immediately after the conclusion of Mr. Wing's 
speech, Mr. Ingham arose and began his address for 
the prosecution. 

From fog to sunshine, from the hazy swamp of doubt 
to the clear atmosphere of truth, from Attorney Wing? 
the ponderous sophist, to George C. Ingham, the bril- 
liant logician — such was the course of the day's pro- 
ceedings. Comparison with the two speeches would 
not be just, inasmuch as at the outset the attorney for 
Coughlin was face to face with an almost overwhelming 



THE ORONIN CASE. 



345 



avalanche of proof against his client, while the junior 
attorney for the people had but to stretch forth his 
hciicl and with the move of a finger the avalanche 
gained fresh impetus, moving steadily and fearfully in 
the Erection of the prisoners on trial. 




■\.y:*/ 



GEO. C. INGHAM. 



Like a keen north wind driving a fog-cloud before 
it, the first words of Lawyer Ingham's speech dispelled 
the haze which hung over the jury box. The electri- 
cal influence of a bright frosty morning seemed to 
glow from the stinging logic of his opening sentences. 
Traversing the same ground covered by the opening 



346 the ckonin cas*:. 

speech for the defense, he rent, as if by a sunbeair, 
the cloud of doubt which had been conjured up as an 
inseparable adjunct to circumstantial evidence. Even 
the example of the Hull murder, which had been 
quoted by Mr. Wing, was held up by his opponent as 
a powerful argument by the mere process of finishing 
the story -where the other had left off. The list shreds 
of the argument as to the cause of death ware forgot- 
ten when Mr. Ingham, becoming enthused on the sub- 
ject, described Dr. Cronin as " slaughtered by a tribu- 
nal treasonable to the laws of the state you are called 
upon to execute, and whose protection these defendants 
now claim." 

In going over the well-known facts so often recited, 
each point was depicted in a manner that was startling, 
as much by its dramatic coherency as by the earnest- 
ness of the speaker. 

But when speaking of the ruse adopted to lure the 
Doctor to his death, Mr. Ingham's eloquence became 
alternately scathing and pathetic. That human nature 
could conceive a plan fraught with such treachery 
seemed to him incredible, that friendship could be 
utilized to offset fear, in which the Doctor walked day 
and night; that a call to relieve suffering humanity 
should lead the respondent to a slaughter-house where 
he was to be the victim; that hatred for, should be fol- 
lowed by, ignominy to the dead, were facts horrible in 
their truth as they were true in their horrible details. 

With blanched cheeks the five men on trial bowed 
beneath the scorching eloquence of the junior prose- 
cutor. Once the German, Kunze, rose in his place, 



THE CRONIN CASE. 347 

shrieking out to the speaker: " God knows 1 am inno- 
cent!" Many times Mr. Forrest tried to interrupt Mr. 
Ingham, but each interruption was a signal for such a 
deluge of denunciation that he retreated in dismay. 

Mr. Ingham dilated at length and with terrible 
earnestness on the matters so well known as to the 
details of all matters and the actions of all the accused 
before and after the murder, and concluded his address 
by particular reference to Coughlin, O'Sullivan and 
Beggs. 

" Now, these three men, against whom circumstances 
point with awful force, are all boon companions, bound 
together by the ties of Camp No. 20, actuated by a 
common hatred, and joined in a common denunciation 
of their victim. Wiien these people here can make 
you believe that the mechanism of a watch can spring 
into existence at a glance, when these people here can 
make you believe that this court-house can spring up a 
monument of masonry, even as a mushroom springs up 
in the night, then they may be able to make you be- 
lieve that there was no design in these circumstances, 
that .there was no intelligent, human design, no malevo- 
lent and murderous purpose running through them. 

"These men are boon companions; they are side by 
side; they are*moved by a common cause and actuated 
by common enmity toward Dr. Cronin. Where did 
this trouble begin? Recollect, now, that O'Sullivan 
said to Mrs. Farrar: 4 They say he gave away the 
secrets of an order to which he belonged, and if he did 
he ought to be killed.' It is in evidence in this case — 
it is undisputed in this case — that for years there had 
been a constant struggle and turmoil in this organi- 
zation. 

" Beggs' duty was to appoint that committee. Beggs, 
remember, was an enemy of Dr. Cronin, with the 



348 THE CHONIN CASE. 

others; Beggs denounced him with the others; Beggs, 
with the others, said after his death: ' O, he will 
turn up.' Others claimed, too, that he would turn 
up. They covered his body with the filth of the 
sewer, and his memory with the epithet of a trai- 
tor. I said, gentlemen, that in an American court, 
before an American jury, it made no difference whether 
the charges of Dr. Cronin against the Triangle were 
true or not; that it made no difference whether he was 
a patriot or a traitor to the Irish cause. But, gentle- 
men, the truth of history demands that the name of 
Cronin be vindicated — and the vindication of his name 
is stronger than it could be put by mortal lips when 
you remember that it comes from the depths of a catch- 
basin and that his body comes from the sewer. 

"They murdered him because they feared his charges. 
They called him a spy in order that they might nerve 
dupes to kill him. They slew him. 

" Now, gentlemen, I have said all in this case that I 
intend to say. It is needless to say more. I shall be 
followed by others of great ability. But remember 
this : Your duty in this case may be and is unpleasant, 
it is an onerous and burdensome duty which you have 
already undergone. It is an unpleasant thing for any 
man to sit in trial upon the liberty or the life of his 
fellow-citizens; but human nature is so ©onstituted that 
law is necessary to make some men walk straight. 

"Crimes, murder, theft, arsons, can only be prevented 
by the enforcement of the law. The law can be en- 
forced only by jurors. In the calling of Providence 
you are here now. Tour duty is before you. Recol- 
lect that while your duty is serious and burdensome it 
is also of vast importance. That courage now to do 
your whole duty, whatever you esteem your duty, is 
just as necessary as it would be upon a battlefield or in 
any of the walks of life. Deal with these men justly, 



THE CRONIN CASE. 349 

execute the law, satisfy your own consciences, and the 
rest of us will be satisfied." 

At 4 o'clock Mr. Ingham sat down. His effort had 
been swift as a hurricane, and as effective. During 
the three hours he had been on his feet every nook and 
crevice of the conspiracy, so far as it has been revealed 
in court, was illumined as if by lightning flashes. Not 
a word, not a gesture of the speaker had been thrown 
away on the twelve men facing him, and when he had 
concluded there fell on the jury a solemn stillness, in 
which gratitude to the orator who had shown them 
their duty, and a resolve to perform that duty, however 
painful, were unmistakably present. 



CHAPTEE XXII. 

His "Innocent Clients" — Piteous Pleading for Kunze and O'Sulli- 
van — Lawyer Donaboe Insists on Their Acquittal — They Had 
No Motive for the Crime — No Proof to Connect Them With 
the Murder— Ladies out in Force to Listen to the Orator — 
Incidents of the Day — The Prisoners. 

It was "ladies day," at the Cronin trial on Wednes- 
day, December 4. Half the audience was composed 
of the gentler sex. Ladies from aristocratic north 
side residences sat side by side with ladies whose 
homes were within sight of the Carlson cottage ; ladies 
from Prairie avenue looked over the shoulders and be- 
tween the heads of ladies from the Town of Lake; 
ladies for whom Luther Laflin Mills had only the most 
courtly of salutes, crowded close to make room for la- 
dies whose ideal of manly beauty was the ex-iceman 
of Lake View. Inside the barrier ladies were in a ma- 
jority of three to one, on the back seats ladies were 
unusually numerous, and when Bailiff Wiederholme 
locked the outer doors there were a dozen ladies stand- 
ing in the hallways and as many more waiting discon- 
solately on the steps outside. 

Daniel Donahoe was the orator of the day, hence 
the unwonted attendance of fair auditors. The poetic 
halo which this master of forensic eloquence usually 
contrives to cast around the most commonplace inci- 
dents is a greater attraction to the gentler sex than 
even the divorce court itself. That the "speech of his 
life" would be a memorable one was a foregone conclu- 
sion; therefore the ladies came early, some with their 

(350) 



THE CRONIN CASE. 351 

fans and vinaigrettes, others with lunch baskets, but 
all prepared to be deeply moved, hugely entertained, 
and to enjoy a treat which they wouldn't have missed 
for anything in the world. 

There was no necessity for the ladies who had not 
heard Mr. Donahoe before to strain their ears. The 
gentleman's eloquence, if poetic, was as sonorous as the 
effusions of Walt Whitman. Every syllable was dis- 
tinct and emphatic. 

Disdaining what he called the "cheap wit" of the law- 
yers on the other side, Mr. Donahoe struck out boldly 
into the defense of his dual charges, Kunze and P. 
O' Sullivan. At one blow the effort of Mr. Ingham 
was dismissed as a political speech and then the orator 
proceeded to show what the other ought to have said 
if he wanted to make a speech which should be a speech 
indeed. 

"A curious thing about Mr. Donahoe," said a lady 
who had heard him elsewhere, "is that he can ask a 
question of a dozen people at once and none of them 
can answer it." 

The enconium was well deserved, and the jury 
showed their appreciation of it. Even such a simple 
question as "Did they do anything of that sort?" would 
be leveled at at least nine jurors, a juror to every syl- 
lable and the whole breadth of the jury box between 
each syllable. Beginning with Juror Bryan at the 
south-west corner of the box, the orator would address 
to him the word "Did," Juror Culver at the other end 
of the front row being selected as the target for the 
next word in the conundrum, then Juror Clarke would 



352 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



get the word "Do," and "Anything" would be scattered 
between both ends, with the odd syllable dropped at 
the feet of Juror Allison in the middle of the front 
row, and so on until the sentence was complete, when 
an emphatic "No!" would be showered over the entire 
jury box, the orator all the time pacing from end to 
end of the front row at a pace that would have worn 
out Dinan's old white horse. 




DANL. DONAHOE. 

Mr. Donahoe was severe on Mr. Hynes, and charged 
much of State's Attorney Longenecker's virile denun- 
ciation of the witnesses for the defense to the prompt- 
ings of counsel hired by persons who wanted to see 
prisoners persecuted. The speaker said that Mr. Geo. 
Ingham was the brainiest lawyer on the other side, and 



THE CRONIN CASE. 353 

that Mills and Ingham had only done their duty 
as lawyers. He frequently alluded to the "cheap 
wit " of Mr. Hynes, but that gentleman did not resent 
it. From time to time he made some pertinent or 
impertinent corrections of Mr. Donahoe's statements 
concerning the testimony however, and the orator 
was sometimes considerably embarrassed by the inter- 
ruptions. 

During the early part of his lawyer's address, 
O'Sullivan was unusually nervous. He seemed to 
feel that much depended on Mr. Donahoe's effort, and 
he tugged persistently at his little moustache. 

The German, Kunze, watched the argument closely, 
and sat upright most of the time it was being delivered. 
Coughlin was sleepy, Beggs chatted with Lawyer 
Foster during a good portion of the forenoon, and 
Burke was unconcerned. 

Lawyer Forrest followed Donahoe's speech closely, 
and frequently made suggestions for his assistance and 
guidance. He put on Mr. Donahoe the dreary burden 
of the law-reading and presentation of the testimony. 

In behalf of Kunze and O'Sullivan, Mr. Donahoe 
followed in the line of Judge Wing's argument, taking 
up separately eada circumstance concerning his clients, 
and contending that it was not strong enough to hang 
a man on. Kunze's case was given more attention than 
that of O'Sullivan. The lawyer probably found 
Kunze's case easier to defend than the ex-iceman's, 
and so he gave the " little German boy " the big end 
of his effort. He read a great deal of law to the jury, 
and more testimony. 

23 



354 THE CRONIN CASE. 

He then reviewed the evidence given against Kunze, 
the facts as stated in this history, and asked: "Where 
is the proof ? Where is the proof?" Then answered: 
" The only proof is wild, absurd statement." He con- 
tended that Kunze never knew, never heard of Dr. 
Cronin, and said: 

"He connected with this case! He guilty of con- 
spiracy to murder a man he had never heard of! Ab- 
surd ! Ridiculous I" 

Mr. Donahoe contended that there might still exist a 
doubt as to the identity of the body found with that of 
Dr. Cronin, and also, if so, that he had died of the 
wounds inflicted. 

" You must be as certain that each link in the chain 
of circumstantial evidence is proved, that it was Dr. 
Cronin's body that was found in the catch-basin. It 
was absolutely essential to the state's case to prove to 
your entire satisfaction the identity of the Doctor's 
body. It is also absolutely essential to the state's case 
to prove to your entire satisfaction that the Doctor died 
from wounds and bruises upon his person." 

He claimed that O'Sullivan was acquainted neither 
with Beggs nor Burke. That he had never spoken a 
word against Dr. Cronin, that he had no motive for 
entering into a conspiracy to murder the Doctor, and 
for aiding in the murderous work. He insisted 
that the contract made with Dr. Cronin was a pure, 
regular, legitimate business contract; that O'Sullivan 
had never held as a secret the fact that he had entered 
into it, and that the card of O'Sullivan, presented to 
decoy the Doctor to his death, had been obtained sur- 
reptitiously, or by means unknown to O'Sullivan, who 



THE CRONIN CASE. 355 

had openly announced the contract, and had never 
denied it. 

Like Mr. Wing, Lawyer Donahoe seemed, to think 
there must inevitably be prejudice existing in the 
minds of the jury against the accused, and he was con- 
stantly referring, warning and protesting against it. 

As a defense of Kunze and P. CTSullivan, the oration 
was a masterpiece. Not a witness, not a pHrase, not 
an admission was forgotten, which might serve as a 
factor in their favor. And in the closing sentence — a 
blending of an appeal for mercy with a demand for 
acquittal in the name of justice — Mr. Donahoe was 
most effectively pathetic. Kunze and O'Sullivan sniffed 
vigorously during its delivery, while handkerchiefs and 
vinaigrettes were in brisk demand in the lady audience. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

A Star Day — Alibis Shredded, Shattered and Scattered — Mr. 
Hynes' Superb Argument — The Secret Committee and Camp 
No. '20 Shown Id Startling Colors — That Peculiar Police Tes- 
timony— Begg's Complicity In the Crime — The Prisoners As 
They Listen -End of Mr. Hynes' First Day, Dec. 5. 

Thursday morning Dec. 5, Mr. W. J. Hynes, special 
counsel for the people in the trial of the five men 
charged with the murder of Dr. Cronin, entered upon 
an argument, the equal of which has seldom been heard 
in a tribunal of justice. 

Like a surgical lecturer with scalpel in hand, laying 
bare the veins and arteries, the bones and sinews of a 
corpse, Mr. Hynes dissected the wreck of: the once 
formidable conspiracy of Camp No. 20. With a keen 
eye and steady hand he stood over the prostrate body 
for an entire day discussing in plain terms the foul 
obstructions which his knife encountered at every turn, 
explaining how this canker had grown and that lung 
had become diseased, showing the poison here and the 
corruption there, all the time exercising an almost 
superhuman control to shut out the sound of a myriad 
of voices filling the air and crying aloud, " Kill! Kill !" 

From the first day of the 'trial, when palm-leaf fans 
were at a premium and heated, arguments a superfluous 
waste of breath, the object of concentrated attack by the 
lawyers for the defense has been W. J. Hynes. 

In conversations about the probable outcome of the 
case, the lawyers for the defense have lost no opportu- 
nity to load unsuspecting reporters with barbed shafts 

(356) 



THE CRONIN CASE. 357 

directed at and intended for W. J. Hynes. Like a 
sleeping lion, the big Irish lawyer has allowed himself 
to be the butt of their missiles, only occasionally rising 
from his lethargy and with a flip of his shaggy mane 
stinging his Lilliputian antagonists as though cut by a 
buzz-saw. 

Mr. Hynes has the ideal voice of an orator; it is full, 
soft and musical. It is a deep bass, but finely modu- 
lated, and as clear and resonant as a violin. Mr. 
Hynes' face, however, is not an ideal. It is full, heavy- 
jawed and beefy. His eyes are uncomfortable, appar- 
ently, from the fullness below them that crowds them 
back under his overhanging brows. His cheeks are 
purple, and his neck, of the same hue, is too large and 
heavy to give him a poetic cast. His nose slightly 
pug; broad forehead and square jaws indicate the 
Celtic blood in him and his pugnacity. When angry 
or in the heat of argument his nose takes an extra turn 
upward, his brows hang lower over his furious eyes, 
and his face resembles that in the picture of Vulcan 
forging the thunderbolt. Mr. Hynes is of heroic 
build, and his pose dignified, though not severe. 

On this Thursday his turn came, and the reparation 
for past insults was terrible as it was excruciating. In 
his address Mr. Hynes did not assume to be an orator 
or indulge in any of the pyrotechnics of the art elo- 
quent. His analysis was keen and sarcastic and some 
of his phrases had a razor-edge on them. He devoted 
his time to dissecting alibis. He did not accuse wit- 
nesses for the defense of perjury. He tried to make 
their alibi stories consist with the truth, but argued 



858 THE CRONIN CASE. 

that they mistook the dates or occasions about which 
they testified. He reasoned that when a friend's life 
was in danger many good men would stretch a point 
in his favor, if their minds were in doubt. He took 
certain incidents on which the witnesses on both sides 
agreed, and ibout them wove the true story of the 
larger circumstances. He quoted from the testimony, 
and, though his quotations were frequently challenged, 
reference to the official records proved that he was 
right. 

That the lawyers who had been entrusted with the 
defense of four of the five men on trial had only in- 
jured their clients, was shown with cruel clearness. 
That the prisoners had been better defended had they 
pleaded in person, and on the witness stand sworn in 
their own behalf, instead of being burdened with the 
badly-concocted alibis their lawyers had framed, was 
demonstrated to a certainty. That even the plea for 
merciful consideration w T hich the young German, 
Kunze, tried to make in his own behalf, had been 
glaringly overlooked, was made manifest. That the 
defense had merely hoodwinked the men on trial into 
fancied security in order to close their mouths against 
the principals, whose tools they had been, was clearly 
proven. And that the lawyers hired to defend the pri- 
soners had method in their mad attacks upon the spe- 
cial counsel for the people was shown without question. 

Seldom has such a crowd gathered to attend a cri- 
minal trial as that which besieged the doors of Branch 
No. 3 of the criminal court on the morning of this day, 
an hour before the doors opened. Broughams, coupes, 



THE CRONIN CASE. 359 

buggies, hired hacks, and hansom cabs by the dozen 
stopped in front of the steps on Dearborn avenue, de- 
posited their load on the muddy sidewalk and drove 
away. A line of people, three or four deep, stretched 
from the Dearborn avenue steps round to the main 
entrance of the criminal court on Michigan street. 
Inside the main hall of the building a well-dressed 
mob besieged the state's attorney's office, the clerk's 
office, and the bailiff's office. Wearers of official 
badges escaped with difficulty from the clamoring 
crowd demanding passes. 

People who looked forward to an impassioned ad- 
dress from the great Hibernian lawyer were doomed to 
disappointment. Whether the credit be due to the 
generalship of State's Attorney Longenecker or to the 
combined wisdom of the lawyers for the prosecution, 
the arrangement of speeches on the part of the state 
was as skillfully managed as it was effective. 

Possessing an unequaled knowledge of the minute 
details of the charge made, Mr. Longenecker relin- 
quished his claim on the place of honor — the closing 
address — in order to present in consecutive detail the 
facts sworn to by witnesses for the state in support of 
the charges in the indictment. The solid array of tes- 
timony as presented by Mr. Longenecker was thorough 
and complete, devoid of argument or rhetorical orna- 
mentation, built up of circumstantial evidence truly, 
but overwhelming in its completeness. Against this 
the strategy of the defense hurled the ponderous sophis- 
tries of Mr. Wing, attacking circumstances light as air 
with argument heavy as forty-pounder iron shot. In 



360 THE CRONIN CASE. 

reply to Mr. Wing the brilliant logic of George C. 
Ingham was directed, routing the would-be underminer 
of the state's citadel at every point. Then came Dan- 
iel Donahoe, hitting blindly from the shoulder, let the 
blows fall where they might. At strong proof he 
hurled alibis ; unconscious of weak defense he shrieked 
at an " unjust prosecution,*" and fearing a sentence of 
death he appealed with moistened eyelids to a merciful 

J^T- 
To answer the challenge that the defense had refuted 

the charges, Mr. Hynes stepped into the arena. That 

the wish uppermost in his mind was to let loose the 

flood of his unrivaled satire upon the opposition and 

in a soul-stirring eulogy of his murdered compatriot 

to carry the jury to a righteous verdict, was apparent 

at the out-set. But the self-restraint he exercised was 

wonderful and wise. 

Beginning mildly, in a voice scarcely audible through 
the densely packed court-room, he congratulated the 
jury upon the near approach of a cessation of their 
labors. Contrasting the trial awarded to the five pris- 
oners with the shadow of one which preceded the trag- 
edy in the Carlson cottage, Mr. Hynes grew dramatic 
as he described Dr. Cronin's enemies ''charging him 
behind his back, trying him behind his back, killing 
him behind his back — killing him first and accusing 
him afterward." 

But checking himself the speaker proceeded to the 
dissection of the conspiracy and incidentally its off- 
shoots of slander on the murdered Doctor and defense 
of his alleged slayers. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 361 

O'Sullivan's alibi came first under the knife, as it 
had been most strenuously pushed forward by the pre- 
ceding attorney. With emotion and indignation 
bristling at every sentence, the lawyer coolly pulled it 
to pieces, holding up shred by shred to the jury, 
restraining himself from the almost overpowering 
impulse to trample it under foot, and finally hurling it 
to the ignoble oblivion of the Molly Maguire butcheries. 

Then came the little German, Kunze. From every 
point of view the structure of proof against the stool- 
pigeon of Coughlin was shown. Every shingle was in 
place and not a loop-hole for the doomed prisoner to 
escape. But a generous flow of sunlight was conveyed 
to the young German in the few earnest words of the 
big-hearted lawyer, showing where mercy might with 
safety guide the jury in their verdict. 

But of Coughlin, the man who led Kunze away, the 
sworn guardian of the police prostituting his position 
for the benefit of murderous conspirators, Mr. Hynes 
had none but terrible denunciations. The hollow 
mockery of an alibi for the ex-detective, his criminal 
trifling with the law in pursuit of the murderers, the 
presence of his hand at the helm of the conspiracy — 
from the appointment of the conspiracy to the burial 
in the sewer — all these were mercilessly shown up by 
quotations from the testimony of witnesses who had 
interposed their oaths to the pathway of justice. 

"Poor Burke," Mr. Hynes called the Winnipeg sus- 
pect. Burke, the dupe of all the dupes; Burke, sent 
to John F. Ryan, the sender of the driver to Dan 
Coughlin; Burke, the fleeing criminal; Burke, the 



362 THE CRONIN CASK. 

undefended, save by the trashiest of alibis. " Poor 
Burke!" 

" We Irishmen have been called hot-blooded," 
pleaded the lawyer, when approaching the citadel of 
Camp No. 20. " Our sentiment has been so long 
appealed to that our hearts have outgrown our heads," 
and having delivered himself of this defense of his 
fellow-countrymen, Mr. Hynes opened up on ex-Senior 
Guardian Beggs. Pitiless as had been his carving of 
the defense of the other prisoners, it was mild as com- 
pared to that of the defendant Beggs. " No quarter," 
was the cry, and the hollowness of an organization con- 
trolled so that "scoundrels are permitted to pursue 
their nefarious schemes and adventures to feather their 
unholy nests "was vividly portrayed. 

The speech of Mr. Hynes was comprehensive; so 
excellent and complete. He said: 

" May 4th, Dr. Cronin was taken from home and 
murdered. May 5th, it was discovered that he had not 
returned, and grave apprehensions were held by his 
friends. May 6th, it was published to the world. May 
7th or 8th, the senior guardian of Camp No. 20, de- 
clared that Dr. Cronin was not dead, that he was all 
right, and that he would turn up ; that he knew what 
he was talking about, that Morris and O'Byrne were 
not in the inner circle, and did not know what they 
were talking about, and that he knew Dr. Cronin was 
all right and would turn up. 

"About May 9th, 10th, or 11th, dispatches were 
received announcing that Cronin was alive and had been 
seen here and there. What did this mean, gentlemen 
of the jury? It meant that the defense was organized 
before the crime was committed. It meant the exist 



THE CRONIN CASE. 363 

ence of a wide-spread conspiracy. It meant the pres- 
ence in that conspiracy of intelligence and resources — 
resources that knew how to handle the telegraph and the 
press. 

"But when the body was found and identified, that 
story, so far as the public was concerned, was no 
longer urged and that theory was no longer advanced. 
But even at the very opening of this trial, after the 
jury were accepted, when the witnesses were put upon 
the stand to identify the remains of Dr. Cronin, found 
in the catch-basin, did not this defense still contend 
and contest the identification of that body? 

"All the witnesses for Patrick O' Sullivan say that on 
the evening of May 4th, he got home between half- 
past 5 and 6 o'clock. Patrick O'Sullivan's own state- 
ment, when he talked with Capt. Schaack, was that he 
arrived home at half-past seven, and that he was not 
out of his house that evening after he came home. 
They all say that he got home about half-past 5 or 6 — 
every witness here. They all, with the exception of 
Mulcahey, swear that he was not out of his house at 
that time — after supper; that he sat down for a time in 
the house and then went to bed with Mulcahey. 

" He himself sent for Capt. Schaack, while he was a 
prisoner in jail, and said he was out of the house 
that night, in the alley, near the rear of his barn. 

" Why, they put young Knight on the stand, you 
remember, who was working there; and there is not 
anything that better illustrates the value of an alibi than 
his testimony and the testimony of Minnehan, who 
worked several summers for O'Sullivan. They both 
swore that the two Hylands came there Sunday after- 
noon about 5 o'clock, and Knight swore that O'Sullivan 
was there. He swears that O'Sullivan was 'in the 
house from a point of time between 4 and 5 o'clock the 
afternoon of Sunday, May 5th, and that when the 



364 THE CRONIN CASE. 

Hylands came in he shook hands with them; that he 
was not out of the house from that time until he went 
out at 10 o'clock at night. He swears that, when it is 
conceded, gentlemen of the jury, that O'Sullivan was 
down at Mrs. Conklin's about that time, and did not 
get home until about 7 or 8 o'clock. He swears to that 
when everybody knows that O'Sullivan was with Mur- 
ray at that hour down at Mrs. Conklin's, and when 
everybody concedes that he didn't get back home until 
half-past 7 or 8. That is the value of an alibi. 

" Now, what is the alibi for Dan Coughlin? We 
have Niemann seeing him out there at that hour ; we 
have Mertes seeing a man at the Carlson cottage that 
he thinks was Dan Coughlin, and that looked like him 
from his rear and side view. And this man left such 
a vivid impression upon his mind that he was able to 
pick him out in the jail when he got the same view pf 
him. I would not say that if it rests upon that alone, 
but take these facts together and in connection with 
the more important facts. It is wholly immaterial in 
this case whether Dan Coughlin was near the Carlson 
cottage May 4th, whether Patrick O'Sullivan was near 
the Carlson cottage May 4th, whether they ever lifted 
a hand to strike Dr. Cronin ; the fact that they were in 
the conspiracy and arranged it makes them equally 
guilty under the law. 

"But what is the alibi? We have first Officer McDon- 
ald. He remembers the exact time when he saw Dan 
Coughlin. But he never disclosed that important fact 
to anybody except Officer Scott — and mind you, 
McDonald and Scott were both members of the same 
camp — were both members of Camp No. 20. They 
were both members of the same camp in which this 
originated — this conspiracy to murder. McDonald 
never told his superior officer about it. He does not 
go to Capt. Schaack, or to Capt. Schuettler, who suc- 
ceeds him, or to the chief of police, or to the state's 



THE CRONIN CASE. 365 

attorney, or to the newspaper reporters, or to anybody 
who will convey to the authorities and the public the 
information, and say: "Dan Coughlin was not out 
there at the Carlson cottage; he could not have been 
out there. I saw him at the station at half-past eight 
or a quarter of nine." McDonald didn't say that to 
anybody, but he suddenly appears on the stand and 
swears to an alibi for a fellow-member of the order. 
Whelan, too, finds Coughlin there at half-past seven or 
a quarter to eight as he goes in, and he leaves him 
standing in front of the station, and on the sidewalk. 
He comes out later on and finds him still standing in 
front of the station after nine o'clock. And Stift, when 
he comes out, finds him standing in front of the station 
at half-past nine o'clock. Think of it ! For two long 
hours Dan Coughlin is standing immovable in one spot, 
with no event to change the monotony of the occasion, 
nothing to do, and nothing done, except to go once in 
the saloon and take a drink with Officers Stift and 
Whelan. That is the extent of the search of these 
two trained detectives for a man, that at that time, even 
in the judgment of Capt. Schaack and those who were 
supposed to know, was believed to have driven the 
Doctor away. 

"It was said by Mr. Wing that no man, if he drove 
Dinan's horse that night, would come into court to tes- 
tify. Why, there is not a man in the world, who was 
not the veriest cur, who would remain in the rear while 
the man who had become responsible, and whose ac- 
commodation had furnished the horse that w r as used to 
drive Dr. Cronin away, who would refuse, unless he 
had committed some crime, to come to the front. Can- 
not John F. Ryan tell of his whereabouts? Cannot 
Coughlin's brother tell? Cannot the friends — some of 
them in Hancock, Mich. — tell of his whereabouts? 
Can no light be thrown upon it? . Why have not the 
authorities learned? We sent the only man that knew 



366 THE CRONIN CASE. 

on the police force, and he did not look for him; did 
not go where he could be found; gave a false descrip- 
tion so that nobody else would take him; described him 
as cross-eyed and as wearing a stiff hat; he wanted 
him to escape. Whoever he is, he is one of the con- 
spirators. 

"These are all admitted facts that in the last of April 
or in the first of May, P. O'Sullivan was inviting 
Coughlin out to his house. Remember that O'Sulli- 
van's house was the next building to the Carlson cot- 
tage, almost the only building in its neighborhood. 

"One thing further about Coughlin's alibi: Along to- 
ward the close of the trial in this case, it was dis- 
covered that one of the officers had overlooked two 
knives that were taken from Daniel Coughlin the day 
he was taken into custody on May 25th, three days 
after the discovery of the body of Dr. Cronin. That 
those knives are identical in character, in description, 
and every feature — everything that would distinguish 
and identify a knife, with Dr. Cronin's two knives, 
there can be no dispute. 

"Two or three days after, Dan Coughlin is invited to 
the office of the chief of police, and he comes there 
for a consultation ; and before he leaves it, it appears 
that he was placed under arrest and searched, and 
these two knives found on him. If these are not the 
two knives of Dr. Cronin, as I believe them to be, it is 
one of the most remarkable coincidences in history 
that a man moving the appointment of the committee, 
that a man hiring the white horse, a man breathing 
into the ears of the members of Camp 20 that Dr. 
Cronin was another Le Caron, and that there were evi- 
dences in the city of Chicago to show that he was one 
of the spies referred to by Le Caron; that he should 
be found with two knives exactly like the kniveg that 
were on the person of Dr. Cronin when he left Mrs. 
Conklin's house, that he was in the habit of carrying 



THE CRONIN CASE. 367 

---one in his vest pocket and one in his pants pocket — 
and when his clothes are found in the mrfn hole, that 
neither of the knives was found in the clothes. I say- 
that it is most remarkable. 

"We have Burke's alibi. It is rather a pitiful one. 
Somebody's heart must have failed him in finally mak- 
ing out an alibi for poor Burke. 

"I presume the worst thing about Matt Danahy is 
that he would probably swear through a grindstone for 
the purpose of helping out his friend in a case like 
this. And what an alibi! He says that Burke was 
there when he got there — about half -past six — I think 
I am correct, but I have not refreshed my recollection 
of that particular hour — I think about half-past six, he 
says, he got there. If he was there then he is contra- 
dicted by Hugh Gleason, if we are to accept Hugh 
Gleason's statement that Danahy came to relieve him 
about that time while he was there. And he must have 
come in there — if he came in at all — after Danahy' s 
arrival. 

"Mr. Carberry testifies that he went there about half- 
past six, that Hugh Gleason was the bar-tender, and 
when he went on the stand and denied it he looked to 
me more like a man struggling with his conscience, 
and more unwilling about committing perjury than any 
man on the stand." 

Of the secret committee Mr. Hynes said: "Where 
was the necessity for a secret committee, gentlemen of 
the jury? If that committee was appointed, as John 
F. Beggs' man has said — if it was not for criminal 
purposes, why have not the members of that com- 
mittee come forward and baid it was appointed for 
the purpose of making an inquiry and a report; that 
its conduct was not criminal; that its purpose was not 
murder ? 

" Now, on the authority of John F. Beggs, in the light 
of the other testimony showing that Columbus Club 



268 THE CRONIN CASE. 

means Dr. Cronin's camp, that he was the S, G. or 
senior guardian of it, in John F. Beggs' own hand- 
writing, we have the statement that he ascertained 
those facts and wrote to the district member about it. 
In another letter later on Beggs says: 'But I was 
ordered to notice it. Personally I think it better not 
to notice such things, but I am only one. The men 
who have the power will in time realize the motive of 
those who are continually breeding disorder in the 
ranks, and the day of punishment will come.' 

" Now what does that refer to? It certainly refers to 
Dr. Cronin's minority report; not to the irregularity 
arising out of the truth of the report itself. ' The 
men who have the power.' Does that mean to refer 
to the men — the private membership of the organiza- 
tion as constituting the power? Perhaps it does, or it 
is different men — the particular men who have the 
power. It is capable of both constructions. ' The 
men who have the power will in time realize the 
motives of those who are continually breeding disorder 
in the ranks.' Yes, it must be the men — the rank 
and file. ' Who are breeding disorder in their ranks, 
and a day of punishment will come.' A punishment 
of what kind? What feeling does he express. He is 
but one. He would stem it if he could; but it is irre- 
sistible! The pressure is too great, he must notice it, 
and the day of punishment will come. 

" Now, gentlemen, what follows that? That is the 
18th. That day a man named Simmons, calling him- 
self Simmons, appeared at Revell's, the day that the 
last letter was written, after Spelman had refused to 
act; that day a man appeared at Bevell's and negotiated 
for the purchase of the furniture. He also appeared 
before Throckmorton and negotiated for the flat at No. 
117 South Clark street. The man who appeared 
bought furniture entirely disproportionate to his char- 
acter, standing and appearance." 



THE CKONIN CASE. 



369 



Breathlessly the audience waited for the final thrust 
that should destroy the writhing triangular monster, 
when Mr. Hynes informed the court that he saw he 
could not conclude his speech that night. Judge 
McConnell accordingly ordered " a recess until to-mor- 
row morning at ten o'clock." The prisoners were re- 
moved from the court-room, Mr. Hynes folded his 




MB. HYNES BEFORE THE JUBY. 



manuscript, the jury filed out of the court, and the 
death-blow was reserved for another day. 

When Mr. Hynes said that he thought Kunze simply 
a tool of Coughlin and spoke of mercy for the Ger- 
man, the young fellow brightened up wonderfully, and 
he looked up as if he were grateful to the lawyer for 
speaking words that might save him from a long term 

24 



THE CRONIN CASE. 

in prison, if not from the gallows. Burke appeared 
auxious and frightened, but chewed gum with all his 
might when his part in the tragedy was related; 
Coughlin and O'Sullivan hated the speaker too much to 
do more than scowl at him, though when the orator 
became unusually severe they perceptibly flinched. 

Throughout his argument Mr. Hynes had the closest 
attention of the jury and audience. He did not at- 
tempt to add to his reputation as a wit or by any 
caustic observations not strictly in the line of his 
argument — argument, not oration, and as an argument 
it was superb. 

One of the interruptions by Mr. Foster while Lawyer 
Hynes was dealing with Beggs, afforded Mr. H. an 
opportunity which he embraced, of paying his respects 
to Mr. Donahoe, for the remarks that gentleman ad- 
dressed to him during his speech on Wednesday. " Per- 
haps," he said, " Mr. Foster, like my brother Donahoe 5 
never defends anybody but innocent men. Maybe he 
feels like a new-made bride. He looks more like a 
new-made bridegroom. Those of his clients who are 
serving in the penitentiary are there because of a dis- 
honest prosecution, and if right were done there would 
be a general jail delivery." 

This was all the reference that Mr. Hynes made to 
Mr. Donahoe throughout his speech, except when he 
rebutted arguments advanced by him. 



CHAPTEE XXIV. 

Mr- Hynes Concludes — More Illumination — Calcium Light on the 
Crime — Beggs Equally Responsible with Coughlin — "Imposed 
Upon by Men Higher Up" — Will get the Truth when "Some 
Putrid Conscience Shows Forth in the Shadow of the Gallows 
and Tells." 

The course of the Cronin trial has been a record of 
contrasts. As if inviting criticism to this point when- 
ever a particularly effective witness has been introduced 
by the state, the cross-examination by the defense and 
the alibi testimony sought to be established in contra- 
diction, has been so weak that the position of the state 
has always been strengthened by the contrastingly 
feeble action of the defense. 

Even in the arguments, when logic was the common 
ground on which both sides elected to stand, each 
represented by an. able exponent, nothing could have 
been in greater contrast than the unwieldy sophistries 
of Mr. Wing and the clear-cut arguments of George C. 
Ingham. 

But it remained for W. J. Hynes and W. A. Foster 
to show the greatest of all contrasts in the two sides 
of this historic case. Both are able lawyers, earnest 
advocates, and masters of more than the average voca- 
bulary pertaining to the pleaders usually heard at the 
bar. A dignified forbearance characterized the con- 
duct of both lawyers throughout the trial, and if it were 
a question of popularity with the jury it would be hard 
to say whether Mr. Hynes' ready repartee or Mr. Fos- 
ter's decorous silence were more entitled to award. 

(371) 



372 THE CRONIN CASE. 

But greater even than the contrast in the conduct of 
the attorneys were their individual utterances before 
the jury on Friday, December 6th. As in the demeanor 
of the lawyers, their speeches were replete with allu- 
sions deserving of praise. Both were replete with 
eloquent phrases and teemed with fervid appeals to the 
feelings as well as the judgment of the jury. Both 
from a scholarly point of view were classical as well as 
able efforts. Both bespoke the evident outpouring , of 
the inner feelings of the speaker. Both were great 
speeches. 

But there the comparison of the two must of neces- 
sity cease. While Mr. Hynes on the one hand was 
able to pluck from a garden of truth a perfect bouquet 
of literary aphorisms, which he, with the skill of an 
orator, contrived into a fragrant offering to the jury; 
Mr. Foster on the other hand was perforce compelled 
to gather a nosegay amid the noxious weeds and creep- 
ers of a growth of alibis, conjecture, sophistry, and 
misrepresentations. Both lawyers dealt with Irish- 
men, Irish affairs, Irish sentiment, and Irish patriotism. 

"Beggs' letters to Spelman were intended as a cover 
to the workings of the secret committee," urged Mr. 
Hynes. 

"Beggs' letters to Spelman were disclosed to the 
prosecution in this case by Beggs himself," pleaded 
Mr. Foster. 

"Dr. Cronin was a friend of Ireland, and his only 
offense was in exposing the wrong-doing of adventur- 
ers who had been preying upon her," exclaimed Mr. 
Hynes, 



THE CRONIN CASE. 373 

"The man who supposes Dr. Cronin while on earth 
was an angel in disguise is much mistaken," asserted 
Mr. Foster. 

"We may never get the history of this conspiracy 
until some putrid conscience shall show forth in phos- 
phorescent hght in the shadow of the gallows the inner 
trutft, even upon the verge of the grave" said Mr. Hynes. 

"The whole life of my client is an open book where- 
in he who runs may read," retorted Mr. Foster. 

And so through the entire length of both speeches, 
statements flatly contradictory were uttered by each 
lawyer. Mr. Hynes, in behalf of the Irish race, de- 
fending the name of his kinsmen from the foulest stain 
in modern history ; Mr. Foster, in the name of an Irish 
faction, urging that Dr. Cronin had almost courted 
death; Mr. Hynes defending the honor of the dead 
and eulogizing his fidelity to the true champions of his 
native land; Mr. Foster denouncing the murdered man 
as a fomenter of discord and an enemy of liberal agita- 
tion ; Mr. Hynes eulogizing his opponents in the legal 
battle; Mr. Foster scouring his vocabulary for terms 
derogatory to the attorneys assisting Mr. Longenecker. 
He assailed Mr. Hynes as the paid attorney of corpo- 
rations and of camps hostile to the friends of the pri- 
soners. The fee paid to Mr. Hynes was characterized 
in language closely approximating the term "blood 
money." Messrs. Mills and Ingham were likewise as- 
sailed as unfair adjuncts to the state in prosecuting the 
men on trial, and the burden of their fee upon the 
people was mentioned in no flattering words to those 
lawyers. 



374 THE CBONIN CASE. 

" There is no 'cheap wit' employed in the defense 
of these five impecunious men," said Mr. Hynes. 
"Coughlin, who had not the money to pay for Dinan's 
horse and buggy; Burke, the sewer laborer, in 
debt for his board; Kunze, the painter on journey- 
man's pay." And in reply to this challenge, Mr. Fos- 
ter had not the excuse forthcoming by Donahoe, that 
his fee was a cipher. 

The closing portion of Mr. Hynes' great speech, 
which occupied the entire morning of this day, was 
an effort of which that gentleman may justly feel 
proud. Little remained in the nature of testimony to 
be torn to shreds, and when that task was accomplished 
the flood-gates of the orator's eloquence were opened 
with terrible effect ; alternately denouncing the Triangle 
as infamous beyond expression ; the lawyer in the exu- 
berance of his passionate declamation, found relief 
even in the contemplation of the weak dupes now on 
trial for their lives. From the consideration of the 
Cronin tragedy, the feelings of the speaker carried 
him beyond the ocean, where Charles Parnell and his 
faithful followers were waging an unequal war against 
an unfriendly executive. "For the last seven years 
the actions of the Triangle have crippled the move- 
ments of the legitimate champion of Ireland, Charles 
Stewart Parnell." And the words of historic accusa- 
tion were uttered in tones whose ringing force was 
evidently intended to reach beyond the confines of 
Judge McConnelPs court, beyond the limits of the 
United States, beyond the expanse of the ocean, even 
to the inner recesses of the chambers wherein the 



THE CRONIN CASE. 375 

judges of the Parnell Commission are considering 
their judgment on the great Irish leader. 

All these Irishmen were dynamiters, according to 
Mr. Foster's argument. The only contention between 
Cronin and his opponents, was that the latter misap- 
propriated money which had been subscribed for 
dynamite, while the former rebelled because it had 
not been used for dynamite. An agreement which, to 
Sir Henry James, the special counsel for the London 
Times, would have been worth a ship-load of Pigott 
forgeries. 

On resuming, or continuing his address to the jury 
Friday morning, December 6th, Mr. Hynes spoke as 
follows : 

"Now, gentlemen.of the jury, I have but one other 
alibi to attend to, and then I shall rapidly close this 
case. We have an alibi for the white horse, attempted 
by Mr. Budenbinder. An attempt at an alibi is made, 
and he describes it — Dinan's white horse — by stating 
that the horse he saw, that drove the Doctor away, was 
a gray horse with dark legs. That was his evidence. 
I am not going to spend much time, gentlemen of the 
jury, after Mr. Ingham's analysis of the testimony, to 
talk upon it, but there are one or two things to which 
I wish to direct your attention more particularly, and 
that is the peculiar shade of that horse. He remem- 
bers the shade of that horse, but he does not remem- 
ber the color of the overcoat the man wore. What 
kind of an overcoat it was he does not know. That is 
as far as he would go in describing the overcoat worn 
by the man who drove the Doctor away. 

"Do you believe that his memory was good in regard 
to the color of this horse ? ' He was on the other side 
of the street, and he remembers a number of other 



376 THE CRONIN CASE. 

horses, the color of the horses, the way they were 
hitched up, whether double or single, on that evening, 
and you know, gentlemen 'of the jury, the effect of this. 
It was done simply in defense of his memory, in de- 
fending, or rather trying to show that what he said as 
to the color of the white horse was right. He had to 
take that position in order to have the jury give any 
value to his testimony as to the color of that white 
horse. 

"I call your attention, gentlemen of the jury, that 
not, from the opening to the close of Mr. Donahoe's 
speech, was one word said in condemnation of the mur- 




DETECTIVE COLLINS. 

der of Dr. Cronin; not one adjective used to describe 
it; not one sentiment of dissent, or dissatisfaction, or 
disapprobation, or condemnation of that crime that 
stands out the blackest and reddest in modern terms. 
'I don't know whether Dr. Cronin was killed or not,' 
says the representative of P. (J Sullivan, ' and I don't 
care.' " Mr. Donahoe— " That is right; I said that." 

Mr. Hynes — "No, sir; but as an officer of the court, 
as a law-abiding citizen, as a memoer of this human 
family, as a Christian gentleman, I hope as a man of 
common instincts of mankind, in mercy's name, in 
decency's name, in humanity's name, that you find 
somewhere within the possibilities of your character 



THE CR0NIN CASE. 377 

an impulse to denounce a murder so infamous as that; 
if you dare to do it with your client's retainer in your 
hand. Not one word of condemnation or denunciation 
of the murder of a courageous, honest man, whose only 
fault was his honest courage. When these cowardly 
fiends, assembled in their number, in a room with a 
dim light, and, after the door was closed behind his 
back, his heart throbbing with sympathy for antici- 
pated suffering, with anxiety for relief of human pain 
— scarcely had the door closed behind his back when 
these cowardly murderers fell upon him from behind, 
and, like miscreants, beat out his life. 




"Ill 

MRS. T. T. CONKLIN. 

"Gentlemen of the jury, this savagery and brutality 
are palmed off to you as patriotism. Many and many 
a hot Irish act has brought calamity, suffering and 
shame to the face of the Irish people; but in all their 
history in the past, and in all the history they can 
make in their future, this will stand out as the one con- 
spicuous monument of shame against these Irish people, 
and upon the reputation and character of the honorable 
generosity of the race. Men of the race, as a rule, 
sympathize with sufferers, sympathize with the weak, 
and it is rarely, if ever, cowardly as it was in this 
murder, that the honorable and courageous sentiments 
of the Irish character have been perverted by this act, 



378 THE CRONIN CASE. 

and the men that fall, the higher the height from which 
the fall the more calamitous the destruction which it 
strikes. 

" Gentlemen of the jury, we find this man, Martin 
Burke, who a week after Dr. Cronin's murder did not 
have the money to pay his board in Joliet, with money 
in his pocket, fifty odd dollars, I believe it w T as, and 
with a ticket to Liverpool; a ticket to carry him over 
the railroad to Montreal, and a ticket from Montreal to 
Liverpool! Why was this patriotic Irishman patroniz- 
ing English lines and avoiding the patronage of Amer- 
ican lines? Why was he going beyond the jurisdiction 
of the United States on his way to Liverpool? Why, 
gentlemen of the jury, because he feared that 'mur- 
der will out,' and that justice, with her cold hands, 
was in pursuit of him ; and here we find this man pen- 
niless, and Dan Ooughlin, who in the middle of May 
did not have the $3 with which to pay Dinan for the 
horse that his friend had driven. Now he says the 
friend paid him the $3. We have only Coughlin's 
word for that, you know that the man was not to remain 
long enough to be observed." 

After a few words more Mr. Hynes closed his elo- 
quent and powerful address. 



CHAPTEB XXV. 

Mr. Foster for John F. Beggs — An Angel Without Wings is J. F. 
B., so says His Lawyer — Glorifying the ex-Senior Guardian- 
Disparaging Dr. Cronin — Appeals, but no Arguments — Asser- 
tions Without Keasons — Saturday Ends This Ingenious 
Defense. 

At the opening of the afternoon session on Friday, 
December 6, Mr. W. 0. Foster, counsel for the defend- 
ant John F. Beggs, commenced his address in behalf 
of his client. 

Much more has been expected of Mr. Foster, and 
when court adjourned there was a general feeling of 
disappointment at the weakness of his argument, or so 
much of it as had been presented. The tactics of 
Donahoe, embellished by the education and bearing of 
a gentleman, best describes Mr. Foster's talk to the 
jury. To specious pleadings, to unwarranted dema- 
gogic accusations against the prosecution, rather than 
to a conscientious endeavor to explain away the cloud 
of guilt overhanging his client, did Mr. Foster address 
himself. The advocate was eloquent. His figures of 
speech, his well chosen words, and his passionate, 
almost dramatic oratory, were all pleasing to the senses. 
His was a speech well worth listening to — as a speech, 
merely — but containing little to aid an intelligent jury 
in arriving at a conscientious verdict. 

•He blamed the state's attorney for securing the aid 
of great lawyers, but forgot to tell the jury how Beggs' 
appointment of the secret committee was compatible 
with his innocence of conspiracy to murder Cronin. 

(379) 



3S0 THE CBONIN CASE. 

He eulogized the learning, the ingenuity, and the elo- 
quence of the lawyers for the people; he espoused the 
cause of down-trodden Ireland with tears in his eyes; 
h 3 painted his client as an angel without wings. 

But he neglected to point out to the jury wherein 
tho innocence of his client lay ; he failed to break a 
single link in the chain of circumstances forged by the 
state against John F. Beggs. 

In a low tone, so low as to be inaudible to all but the 
stenographers, beside whose table he stood, the counsel 
who appears only for the ex-senior guardian of Camp 
20, began: 

"If the court please, and gentlemen of the jury: 
I sincerely hope that the infliction under which I am 
laboring at the present time, a bad cold and hoarse- 
ness, will pass off very soon. Otherwise, my argument 
will be an infliction upon not only myself but upon 
yourselves as well." 

Then followed a lengthy complaint that the opposi- 
tion lawyers presented too great an array of literary 
talent and skill. 

Finally Dr. Cronnrs memory and work were assailed: 

"The man who supposes or has supposed that Dr. 
Oronin while here upon earth was an angel in disguise 
is much mistaken. Now, that is hard to say of a man 
that is dead. I hope you do not misconstrue the pur- 
pose for which I say it or the object which I have in 
view. Because my client has given his opinion of this 
man while living I have a right to give it so long as 
my client is living, in order that he may live and that 
that language may be understood and justified in every 
regard. 

"The question was not whether or not it was wrong 



THE CRONIN CASE. 381 

to send dynamite to England, but it was wrong to steal 
$100,000 in money and keep it in this country, which 
ought to have been sent to England for the destruction 
of the lives of men, women and children. 

"Dr. Cronin protested against that. Now, gentle- 
men, the action of John F. Beggs, from the beginning 
of the trial down to the present time, has been an open 
book before you. Is not that true ? Where is the con- 
cealment of fact? Where is there an objection against 
testimony? Where is there an exception to the ruling 
of the court? Now, I am not complaining because other 
lawyers objected and except, but I say, in behalf of my 
client, his life and connection with this case, in all its 
ramifications, has been an open book before you. 

"According to the testimony, I am not arguing upon 
my imagination now, but upon the sworn testimony of 
what Dr. Cronin did. He started another camp. Some 
of you gentlemen belong to secret organizations. I 
think some of you said you were Masons, others that 
you were Odd Fellows, that you belonged to various 
organizations. Now, gentlemen, what would you think, 
i £ you were a Mason, if a gentleman, a brother Mason, 
was deemed a fit subject for expulsion, and he was ex- 
pelled from the organization for a cause that is regard- 
ed as just, whether it is just or not. What would you 
think of that brother provided he would go across the 
street and start a lodge of his own ? He has all of your 
pass-words, he has your ritual, he has been an officer 
for years, he knows all about the grips, if there are 
any, and the forms and ceremonies, whatever they may 
be, and what would you say if he went across the street 
and started an order of his own? And then what would 
you say if he named it practically the same name as 
your lodge and numbered it identically with it?" 

And in this strain was Mr. Foster's speech, not argu- 
ment, continued throughout the day. 



382 THE CRONIN CASE. 

On Saturday, December 7th, Mr. Foster continued 
his argument in defense of his client. 

Is John F. Beggs guilty of the murder of Dr. P. 
H. Cronin, or is he merely the victim of circum- 
stances ? 

This was a question put in a hundred different ways 
by Attorney W. A. Foster, to the jury upon whose ver- 
dict the life or death of John F. Beggs will depend. 
Is Beggs guilty or innocent? Are the circumstances 
pointing to his guilt capable of any other construction? 
Have those circumstances been related in their entirety 
to the jury? Have the material circumstances relied 
on by the prosecution to support their charge been 
proved beyond reasonable doubt? Has the defendant 
helped or hindered the public prosecutor in his search 
for the murderers of Dr. Cronin? Was the secret 
committee referred to in the records of Camp No. 20 
for February 8th, appointed to try Dr. Cronin? Did 
Beggs have a hand in the appointment of such a com- 
mittee? Is it legally proven that such a committee 
was ever appointed? Has Beggs been an egregious 
dupe or an arch-conspirator? — and so on through 
an almost endless variety of alternatives the able advo- 
cate for the senior guardian laid the case of his client 
before the jury. Mr. Foster was ingenious, shrewd, 
and skillful to a high degree. He described Beggs as 
the friend of Cronin, one of his actual admirers, one 
who was ready to metaphorically embrace the murdered 
physician and cover him with what Swinburne calls 
'' those kisses which sting." He was a friendof Cronin' s 
as O' Sullivan was, and in the sense that Patrick Egan 



THE CRONIN CASE. 383 

was a friend of mankind when he said before a Phila- 
delphia camp, " You should always greet your enemy 
with a smile and a shake hands, and have a dagger up 
your sleeve to stab him to the heart." Mr. Foster is 
a very able lawyer, and apparently a man of weight 
and importance in his profession. His speech is well 
worth reading as a clever ex-parte plea. 

The ill-chosen phrase, " Peace through war," which 
had been urged as an indication of Beggs' evil inten- 
tion toward Dr. Cronin, was taken up by his advocate, 
and from a murderous expression of an excited enemy 
it was deftly transformed into the language of an ex- 
alted patriot. " Peace through w T ar" was Beggs' chal- 
lenge in the reunion meeting of February 22d; " Peace 
through war " were Beggs' written words to District 
Officer Spelman. 

Mr. Foster's explanation of the phrase in the Beggs' 
letter to Spelman, of obtaining peace even if it took 
war, was exceedingly ingenious, and it is surprising by 
what a stretch of imagination a great lawyer can in- 
vest his client with great personalities, and so give to 
him a fictitious importance. 

"Peace through war" was the inscription on the 
tombstone of William Pitt; and " Peace" of conscience 
even though it meant "war" against public opinion 
was the reward which Beggs' lawyer held up before the 
twelve jurymen should their verdict mean an acquittal. 

The finger of the Triangle chief is plainly in the 
Beggs defense. The reference to the inscription on 
the statue in the Guild Hall of London to William Pitt 
was a great stroke by way of taking the sting from 



384 THE CRONIN CASE. 

shame, and at least putting Beggs down in company 
with great names. " We must have peace if it takes 
war to bring it about," was Beggs' aphorism. " He 
gave us unity and peace through war," was the verdict 
of posterity on William Pitt. The allusion is not very 
distinct, but it was lugged in to give importance to 
Beggs, and to take the sting from his murderous de- 
signs, as any comparison of the seven others would 
bear about the same relation to each other as a ground- 
hog to an elephant. Clever man is Foster. 

The attorney complained bitterly of the scoring 
given by Mr. Hynes to his client. He contended that 
the proceedings and every action of Camp No. 20, 
would, in morality, propriety, generosity and patriot- 
ism, have done honor to the Young Men's Christian 
Association. He asserted that there never was a secret 
committee appointed in the camp over which Beggs 
presided as senior guardian. He insisted that every 
action and word of Beggs proved him to be an inno • 
cent man; and finally, in his peroration, he, for his 
client, thus demanded " Liberty or Death: " 

"Now, there is a matter, gentlemen, to which I de- 
sire to call your attention. If my client is guilty, he 
is 'awful' guilty. I can imagine how an Irishman, 
with all of the hardships of his forefathers in his mind, 
and all the hardships which he has been subjected to, 
may feel as though he could take a dagger and plunge 
it to the bleeding heart of the British spy; and then 
(raising his eyes to heaven and looking piously at the 
ceiling), kneel down before his God and ask the bles- 
sings of heaven upon the deed. John F. Beggs never 
believed that Dr. Cronin was a British spy. John F. 
Beggs has no defense to the malice and malignity in 



THE CRONIN CASE. 385 

his heart if he stood at the head of a cruel conspiracy 
to effect his murder. 

"No words of commendation, no thought of pity. 
Not one syllable could I say in his behalf were he 
guilty of this atrocious and cold-blooded murder. Be- 
cause John F. Beggs is the dupe of no man. He is 
the tool of no man. He stands forth responsible for 
his acts without a mitigating circumstance if he is 
guilty. If John F. Beggs is guilty, John F. Beggs 
must die. Shame to the verdict, shame to the verdict 
under the circumstances surrounding this case, that 
could say, 'We will not torture our minds, we have not 
the moral turpitude to hang a man upon this evidence, 
but guessing, imagining, speculating that he might be 
guilty we will give him a term in the penitentiary 
upon general principles, or upon speculation. Shame 
upon such a verdict as that. Humanity can stand no 
such outrage perpetrated upon one of its members." 

While the lawyer pleaded to the jury, the prisoner 
struggled hard to restrain his emotions. Tears welled 
into his upturned eyes, a twitching of his face and a con- 
traction of his mouth bespoke the stifled sob, and when 
the last word of appeal had been spoken two tear-drops 
coursed down his cheeks. Dan Coughlin and Kunze 
both were in tears. Attorney Donahoe was weeping 
like a child, handkerchiefs were in demand throughout 
the audience, and the eyes of more than one of the 
jury were dimmed as they sat gazing into vacancy, and 
conjuring in their minds the awful answer to the ques- 
tion, " Is Beggs guilty of the murder of P. H. Cronin, 
or is he the victim of circumstances." 



CHAPTEE XXVI. 

Forrest for Burke and Coughlin— Smothers the Jury with Legal 
Authorities— December 7th, he Opens— "We Believe," he says, 
"in Analysis, the State in Sophistry" — All Quoting and Bead- 
ing— Mr. Forrest's First Full Day— "Facts Do Lie"— Fortun- 
ate Martin Burke — Hints of a Hidden Hand — "How Was Cro- 
nin Killed?"— "There is No Proof that He Died in Carlson's 
Cottage" — "The Trunk did not come from the Cottage." 

An exhaustive disquisition of psychological princi- 
ples, a scientific essay on mathematical possibilities, a 
wearisome discussion of the laws of exclusion — more 
elaborate than those given by Mr. Wing, but less com- 
prehensive — was the two hours' talk made to the jury 
on the afternoon of December 7. 

The introductory remarks of the counsel for Martin 
Burke and Dan Coughlin were eloquent, but they were 
ill-sustained by the position he took in his subsequent 
address to the jury. He undertook to befuddle the in- 
tellect and intelligence of twelve men by reading to 
them innumerable authorities on various points of law 
relating to circumstantial evidence. He did not under- 
take a fair and impartial criticism of the evidence and 
the facts. He carefully avoided any close reference to 
the damning evidence against his clients. During this 
day he devoted himself to ''authorities." As a matter 
of fact, they have very little bearing on the points at 
issue in this great trial. 

For nearly two hours he read and quoted from law 
books. But in the growing darkness, and quickly dis- 
persing audience, the ears of the jury were deaf to the 
loquacious and specious arguments of the attorney, 

(386) 



THE CRONIN CASE. 387 

Mr. Foster's closing words of the day hung like the 
odor of funeral flowers around the jury-box, and solemn 
as a death-knell rang the echo of the question: "Is 
Beggs guilty, or is he innocent?" 

All the ground gone over by Mr. Forrest during the 
two hours of this date, remaining to him before ad- 
journment of court, had already been pretty thoroughly 
traversed by Judge Wing, and was tiresome in the ex- 
treme at so late a day in the business of speech-making. 

Mr. Forrest commenced his speech with a lengthy 
statement, in which he asserted that the mode of pro- 
ceeding of the prosecution was entirely wrong and that 
the plans followed and to be pursued by himself and 
associates were right — the only original and genuine 
"Eight." 

Then Mr. Forrest quoted and read law in elucida- 
tion of what circumstantial evidence is. Then he 
hurled more extracts from legal works into the jury- 
box. Next, believing that "while you're a quotin', 
quote a plenty," he quoted copiously of law, with a 
very big L. After this he read some very famous 
cases from law books, showing the danger of strictly 
circumstantial evidence; and again with chapter and 
verse from the books, he goes into the " might-have- 
beens," and cautions the jury to take them into con- 
sideration. 

The full bar of the state were present on Monday 
morning, December 9th, and closely watched Mr. 
Forrest. He made a good argumentative speech, lay- 
ing great stress as he went along upon everything 
which would help the prisoners. 



388 THE CRONIN CASE. 

He insisted that the wounds upon Dr. Cronin's head 
were caused in removing the body from the catch-basin. 
He derided the idea of Mrs. Hoertel hearing the 
blows inside the cottage. He charged the whole prose- 
cution to a conspiracy of German detectives. Every 
decent witness for the state was whipped by his tongue, 
every traitor to the state received his praise. The 
medical experts who supported the side of Mr. Forrest, 
were held up as men whose words were to be taken as 
gospel truths; the expert evidence for the prosecution 
was trash and lies. 

Said Mr. Forrest: 

" Now, those who differ with us on the subject of cir- 
cumstantial evidence have a sort of maxim which runs 
thus: * Witnesses may lie, but the facts can not.' 

" 'Witnesses,' they say, 'may lie, but facts can not.' 
Now, gentlemen, the truth is that there is nothing in 
the world that tells so many lies, as what is called 
facts. Take as an illustration our tariff discussion of 
last fall. Why, the Republicans will take one set of 
figures, and prove from an examination of those figures 
that the tariff should be maintaned in the way it is be- 
cause it benefits the country. The Democrats will 
take the same set of figures and prove by an examina- 
tion of those figures, that the tariff should be reduced, 
otherwise we will go to ruin. The Republicans will 
take the table oj wages in America and compare it 
with the table of wages in England, and they will show 
from a comparison of those figures, that the tariff 
makes wages high in this country. The Democrats 
will take the same figures and same facts, and make 
them tell exactly the opposite story. So you see that 
much depends upon the disposition that you have when 
you start to look at the facts. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 389 

" There are several unknown men in this case. We 
cannot ascertain who they are, but we can ascertain 
who they are not. They are the principal actors in 
this drama, and they are not members of Camp 20. 
Let us see who they are. They were Simonds and his 
associate; the three men on the wagon; the man who 
wrote the letter from Hammond, Ind. ; the driver of 
the carriage ; the two men seen in front of the place 
the night of May 13; the man that jvas met there one 
night by Carlson, and two others whose positions I do 
not just now remember. That makes twelve. There 
has been a suggestion of a hidden hand in this case. 
May not some of these unknown men have been the 
agents of that hidden hand, instead of my clients?" 

Concerning the trunk, Mr. Forrest boldly asserted 
that the trunk never was in, never came from the Carl- 
son cottage, and that it never contained the body of 
Dr. Cronin. 

As to Mortensen, the expressman, and the Carlsons, 
who swore that they saw the trunk in the cottage, he 
derided their testimony, and pronounced it utterly un- 
worthy of belief. 

And thus he occupied the entire day until adjourn- 
ment of the court. 



CHAPTEE XXVII. 

Another Day in Forrest Tangles—" Liars ! Perjurers ! Mur- 
derers!" — Patent Logic — Prearranged Dramatics — Mr. F. 
Hears from Opposing Counsel — Kunze and Coughlin — About 
Alibis — December 11th, Forrest Finishes — Vituperation 
Against Everybody and Everything — " Poor Burke ! " — Finis 
for Forrest. 

Under the shower-bath of Forrestian verbiage the 
unfortunate ear-racked jurors sat through the entire 
day of December 10th, and though much wilted they 
survived to go to supper after adjournment. 

According to the ethics of legal practice this exuber- 
ance of verbosity is entitled to be called an argument. 
But inasmuch as the ordinary rules of logic could by 
no possibility be made to stretch the case for the de- 
fense over such an intolerable length, Mr. Forrest 
invented a system of logic purely his own. To prove 
that his clients are the most respectable of law-abiding 
citizens in the world, it was necessary to prove that 
State's Attorney Longenecker, his associates, the news- 
papers, and every man, woman and child who disagreed 
with Mr. Forrest, on his first assumption, were the most 
blood-thirsty of human beings that the world has ever 
seen. In support of this dual proposition it was neces- 
sary to let the imagination run riot. The next step 
was to show that all the witnesses for the prosecution 
were perjurers, and that all the witnesses for the de- 
fense were angels of truth and light. In the latter 
contention Mr. Forrest's system of sophistry was in- 
genious almost to the point of ridicule. 

(390) 



THE CEONIN CASE. 391 

No statement was too rabid, no theory too absurd, 
no contortion of words too far-fetched for the verbose 
lawyer. In bunches of three and four he took up the 
witnesses for the state, distorted their testimony out of 
all shape; applied his peculiar system of reasoning to 
them, and, with shrieks and frantic gestures resembling 
an Indian war-dance, he flung them aside and made 
show of trampling on their mangled remains. Judge 
Longenecker, of all public prosecutors the most mild- 
mannered, became a blood-thirsty conspirator; W. J. 
Hynes, his burly, rosy-cheeked associate, became craven 
and pale-faced; George Ingham, the superlatively 
keen-witted, became dull as a country clown; and even 
Judge McConnell, as fair, impartial a judge as ever 
graced the bench, was directly assailed on the question 
of veracity. 

Once or twice the lawyers for the state interposed 
to correct the speaker's wild assertions, but they might 
as well have tried to blow away the fog and mists in 
the streets outdoors. As a final extravagance, at which 
even his associates could fain conceal their surprise, 
Mr. Forrest accused the prosecution of withholding 
evidence which might have been introduced against 
one of the prisoners. 

And the patient jury, wearied with listening to ob- 
jections and exceptions on the part of the speaker, 
through weeks and months past, were compelled to 
sit through even this agony. 

"What is Forrest after?" was asked among a group 
of people whose business compelled their attendance 
at court. 



892 



THE CKONIN CASE. 



"Wait until adjournment and you will see. He is 
only talking to fill in until that time." 

When noon adjournment came the truth of this an- 
swer was shown. A big man, holding a little child in 
his lap, occupied one of the front seats. The child had 
fallen asleep. With a flourish of his hand toward the 
sleeping babe, Mr. Forrest announced that he had 
reached a resting point. In a moment the five prison- 
ers were on their feet, ready to march out of court, 
while the voices of the bailiffs were heard calling upon 
the people to keep their seats. 




THE FIVE. 

"Papa! papa!" came the cry of a child, in sleepy 
tones, but loud enough for the jury to hear. 

All eyes were at once turned in the direction of the 
well-trained child, whose turn for pleading had come. 
Mr. Forrest's harangues were the mere prelude to the 
plaintive cries of Dan Coughlin's child. 

Mr. Forrest went into a tirade against newspapers 
and newspaper men, whom he charged with toying with 
men's reputations, and their lives even, in order to 
create a sensation. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 393 

Then he took up the evidence of the expert witnesses 
as to the blood spots. He ridiculed the evidence of 
Mr. Tolman, whom he sarcastically called Professor 
Tolman. 

Mr. Forrest attacked Dr. Belfield's character, stating 
he had once testified certain blood was human blood 
from an examination of ten corpuscles. Mr. Ingham 
objected to his going outside the record. Mr. Forrest 
replied that he was only going outside the record to 
reply to what Mr. Ingham said outside the record. 

Mr. Ingham replied that he had said nothing impro- 
per in his speech, which Mr. Forrest contradicting, Mr. 
Ingham, thoroughly aroused, said: "You must confine 
yourself to the record or you will meet the rebuke 
falsehood deserves, and that to your face." The court 
interfered, Mr. Forrest subsided, and, dropping the 
question of blood corpuscles and experts, he began the 
demonstration of his proposition — that "not a single 
circumstance testified to since the coroner's inquest 
but has been fabricated." 

And in this line of "argument" the chief attorney 
for the defense continued until Wednesday, Dec. 11, 
on which date he stopped exhausted. For three days a 
torrent of words had been emptied over the heads of 
the long-suffering twelve, and at the end of that time 
the fountain-head run dry. A search amid the debris 
of the case for the prisoners, which was well nigh 
swept out of existence by the verbosity of the leading 
counsel, disclosed a grimy relic which the jury might 
generously regard as a reminder of something that did 
at one time exist. 



894 THE CRONIN CA$£. 

And after shrieking himself hoarse for three days, 
villifying everybody and everything connected with 
the prosecution, from Dinaifs poor old white horse to 
Judge McConnell sitting on the bench, protesting over 
and over again that as he valued his life he believed in 
the innocence of his clients, turning night into day, 
reversing the calendar, remapping out the city of Chi- . 
cago, ,and doing other things equally marvelous, Mr. 
Forrest told the jury that at least they might doubt 
that his clients were guilty. 

When Mr. Wing approached the conclusion of his 
argument for Coughlin, an allusion to the presence of 
Dan Coughlin's wife and child in court was calculated 
to offset the illogical deductions made by the speaker, 
and could not fail to at least enlist the sympathies of 
the jury for the husband and father. Mr. Daniel 
Donahoe's fervid appeal for mercy toward P. O'Sulli- 
van and Kunze had likewise the ring of sincerity in it. 
Hopeless that the flimsy testimony of alibi witnesses 
would have the least effect on the mountain peaks of 
incriminating evidence raised by the state, Mr. 
Donahoe's rugged eloquence, melting almost to tears 
as he bade farewell to the jury, approached to the dig- 
nity of an argument. For John F. Beggs his attorney, 
W. A. Foster, made the only argument heard on behalf 
of any of the prisoners. Challenging the proof ad- 
duced by the state, quoting from it extracts favorable 
to his client, interpolating shreds of opinions to 
remedy defects in the sworn testimony, Mr. Foster 
laid his case before the jury, and in as many words 
told them that their verdict must hang or acquit his client. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 395 

But all the good achieved by these three lawyers 
was wiped out by the last attorney for the defense who 
addressed the jury. Perceiving that a hope existed of 
Beggs being acquitted, Mr. Forrest proceeded to bind 
the case of Martin Burke to that of the . ex-senior 
guardian. Not until Mr. Forrest spoke did the con- 
nection between these two stand forth in such glaring 
colors. If Beggs be innocent and acquitted, then his 
friend Burke must also be innocent and acquitted. If 
Burke be guilty and condemned to death, then Begg*, 
his partner, must share the penalty. Such was the 
logic of Mr. Forrest's deductions. 

The good effect of the opportune appearance of Dan 
Coughlin's wife and child in court during the pathetic 
portions of Mr. Wing's address was lost beyond re- 
demption by repetition during Mr. Forrest's long 
speech. The apparently spontaneous cries of a child 
for its parent, w T hich startled the jury when first heard, 
had been disregarded, as it became apparent that the 
cries were forced, and were gotten up merely to offset 
the barren harangue of the leading counsel for the 
prisoners. 

Mr. Donahoe's appeal for mercy was echoed back 
from the jury-box a dozen times during the three days 
of misery, as worn-out jurors watched with weary 
eyes the slow T ]y decreasing pile of manuscript in the 
lawyer's brief, and mutely implored a cessation of the 
torture. But the wordy advocate heeded not these ap- 
peals, and Donahoe's prayer for mercy was relegated 
to the realms of oblivion when the jury withered under the 
sufferings inflicted upon them by Mr. Donahoe's leader. 



396 THE CRONIN CASE. 

Vituperation was strained almost beyond possibility 
while Mr. Forrest pretended to dissect the evidence of 
of the state's witnesses. Liars, perjurers and mur- 
derers, iu greater or less degree, were the terms be- 
stowed on everybody connected with the prosecution, 
while in the same breath the attorney of adamantine 
effrontery protested to the jury that he had insulted no 
witnesses for the other side, but that Mr. Longnecker 
had been the principal offender in that matter. 

According to Mr. Forrest the court had given the 
widest range to admission of evidence for the state, 
while the lines were held tight against encroachments 
by the defense. 

And all this, Mr. Forrest declared, it was the duty 
of the jury to believe — believing which, they might 
still entertain a possible doubt whether Dan Coughlin 
and Martin Burke were guilty of the murder of Dr. 
Cronin. 

Shortly before 4 o'clock Mr. Forrest said: " I now 
come to Martin Burke." A movement of interest 
passed through the audience at these words. Mr. 
Forrest first laid down to the jury the principle that it 
must distinguish between the cause of a thing and the 
conditions without which it could not have been done. 
He illustrated this by taking the case of Mortensen, the 
expressman. The testimony was that he moved the 
furniture from 117 South Clark street to the cottage. 
If there were such a conspiracy as the state alleges, 
Dr. Cronin would not have been killed if Mortensen or 
some one else had not done as he did. Yet Mortensen 
was innocent. He was not a cause, but a condi- 



THE CRONIN CASE. 397 

tion. If Mortensen had been an Irishman, and 
a member of Camp 20, he would still have been 
innocent, though people might not as readily believed 
he was. And yet, on the theory that everything 
testified to against Burke was true, the only thing that 
made his case different from Mortensen' s was that he 
was Irish and a member of Camp 20. 

Burke, it was argued, had never been connected with 
the cottage by anything like proof, beyond a ''reasona- 
ble doubt." There had not been a single trustworthy 
identification of Burke with Frank Williams. He had 
been pointed out alone, to both the elder and the 
younger Carlson. Mortensen, when in Winnipeg, was 
in charge of a detective who had not taken the stand 
so that he could be cross-examined as to that identi- 
fication. 

In closing, Mr. Forrest said: 

" No peroration have I. I have but one word to 
impress on you, and that word is 'duty.' You have 
been assured by the counsel for the state that they 
have confidence in you; that the whole world has con- 
fidence in you; that whatever verdict you render will 
be satisfactory. I ask you to acquit Martin Burke and 
Daniel Coughlin, and in so doing you will do your 
duty." 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Mr. Mills Too 111 to Speak— State's Attorney Longenecker to 
Make the Closing Address— Drawing Near the End— The 
Closing Speech— Chain of Circumstances Strong as Links of 
Chilled Steel— Mr. Longenecker's Address — Jurors, Counsel 
and Prisoners— They Listen to the Charge of the Judge. 

Thursday morning, December 12, brought a shadow 
over the prosecution. Mr. Luther Laflin Mills, of 
whom so much was expected, who had been depended 
upon to deliver the closing speech in the trial, notified 
Mr. Longenecker that he would be unable to appear. 
Mr. Mills, though in ill health for some time and under 
the care of a physician, fully expected to close the case 
for the state, but at the last moment found his condi- 
tion positively unfitted for the effort. 

As soon as the word was received Judge Longe- 
necker, together with Lawyers Hynes and Ingham, 
called at the residence of Mr. Mills, in Lake View. 
They found the attorney propped up in his bed, appa- 
rently suffering from a relapse. Close confinement in 
the court-room for three months had brought on an old 
complaint and rendered him unable to undergo the 
strain attendant upon making the speech expected from 
him. 

It was at once decided that State's Attorney Longe- 
necker should make the closing address, his masterly 
handling of the evidence in the opening speech satisfy- 
ing all that none could do it better. ■ The time set for 
resuming the trial was 10 o'clock on Friday, Dec. 13th. 

Judge Longenecker's concession of the post of honor 



THE CRONIN CASE. 399 

in speech-making to his former chief and then asso- 
ciate, Luther Laflin Mills, was a skillful piece of gene- 
ralship, as well as a generous action. The expectation 
of a coming cyclone of eloquence on the part of the 
prosecution caused the speeches on behalf of the defend- 
ants to be much milder from an emotional point of 
view than they might otherwise have been. That Mr. 
Mills was, of all men, supremely fitted to make an ad- 
dress worthy of the occasion was conceded on all sides, 
but that there was necessity for such an avalanche of 
argument as might have been expected from that ora- 
tor did not appear so plainly. 

But the sickness of Mr. Mills prevented the carrying 
out of the original program, to the disappointment of 
thousands of people as much as to that of Mr. Longe- 
necker. 

The state's attorney, who had already made two re- 
markable speeches since the opening of the case, stood 
up in the place of Mr. Mills and delivered another im- 
passioned plea for the conviction of the prisoners. He 
also gave Lawyers Forrest and Foster a merciless cas- 
tigation for their bold assumption that the state had 
manufactured its testimony against the suspects, and 
placed perjurers in the witness chair. During his dra- 
matic defense of his professional character and that of 
his colleagues, Mr. Longenecker walked before* the 
jury with his fists clinched and with streams of perspi- 
ration running down his face. His voice rang clear 
into every nook and corner of the crowded room. Mr. 
Forrest, the special cause of the state's attorney's exas- 
peration, sat near the jury, with his pale face resting 



400 THE CRONIN CASE. 

in his hand. He seldom smiled, and when he did it 
was when the blows of the public prosecutor came 
thick, fast, and fierce. Whenever the thoroughly 
aroused advocate hit Mr. Forrest hard, there was a 
ripple of applause that even the bailiffs could not check. 

The argument was forcible and eloquent in its sin- 
cerity. It brought out the material points in a clear, 
matter of-fact, sledge-hammer style that told upon all 
who heard it. The analysis of the testimony carried 
conviction to the hearts and minds of every one 
in the court-room. It was not as ornate as Mr. Mill's 
speech would have been, but the cold and chilling logic 
of facts from the convictions of the speaker had more 
force than the flowery oratory of the elocutionary ac- 
complishment of more polished and famous speakers. 

In the court-room, during this last effort for convic- 
tion of the prisoners, the scene was as dramatic as the 
attitude of the state's attorney. 

The incandescent blazed upon faces closely packed, 
and it seemed as if they rested upon one huge body. 
Each face, rigid in expectancy, was turned toward the 
prosecutor who stood before the jury. Behind the 
prisoners was a line of bailiffs. Judge McConnell sat 
in a revolving-chair, with his face turned to the east 
windows, which looked as gray in the dismal afternoon 
as they did when the four leaders of the anarchists 
were hanged on the brown scaffold not one hundred 
yards away. 

As soon as Judge McConnell had taken his seat, on 
the morning of Friday, December 13th, and the bailiff 
rapped for order. State's Attorney Longenecker began 



THE CR0NIN CASE. 401 

the final speech of the trial. He complimented Mr. 
Mills, acknowledged his own obligations to that gentle- 
man and expressed his regret at his illness and enforced 
absence. 

Then he took up his argument, and piece by piece, 
little by little, he stripped away the vast covering of 
words uttered by Mr. Forrest and the other lawyers 
for the defense, and presented to the jury the truths 
of the case in all its naked deformity. 

" It isn't necessary in this case that every circum- 
stance testified to shall be proved beyond a reasonable 
doubt. It is only necessary that the material circum- 
stances shall be so proved. Now, let us see what are 
the material circumstances. Go into Camp 20 Febru- 
ary 8th. The proceedings are known to you; they are 
undisputed. That is Beggs' link. Then there is the 
renting of the flat at 117 Clark street and the purchase 
of the furniture at RevelPs. Then the renting of the 
cottage; that is Burke's link. O'Sullivan makes the 
contract; that is his link. Coughlin hires the horse; 
that is his link. Then the body in the Evanston avenue 
catch -basin, the bloody trunk on the roadside, and Dr. 
Cronin's clothes, cut from his body and found in the 
sewer, is the last link. Every one of these is undis- 
puted — absolutely undisputed. Then what a cloud of 
circumstances connects and binds these links still more 
firmly to each other ! The conclusion is irresistible. 
These five defendants are guilty of the murder of Dr. 
Cronin." 

This concluded Mr. Longenecker's address, and the 
court then gave instructions to the jury. 

JURORS, COUNSEL AJS T D PRISONERS LISTEN. 

The prisoners, with flushed, expectant fa- 8, c traight- 



402 THE CRONIN CASE. 

ened up in their chairs, and the lawyers drew near to 
the bench. The jurors behaved like a crowd of boys 
who were about to be emancipated from the stern dis- 
cipline of a school. Bontecou's face was wreathed in 
smiles, and he buttoned up his natty coat as if he ex- 
pected to be a free man within an hour. Hall calmly 
stroked his new whiskers and whispered into the ear of 
Dix, who smiled broadly. Grim old Juror Clarke, the 
insurance and real estate man, behaved like a restrained 
lad of fifteen years, and even the somber Culver looked 
pleased. 

Judge McConnell noticed the uneasiness of the au- 
dience, and issued instructions to Sheriff Matson to let 
anybody out who desired to leave. " There will be an 
hour of very dry reading," he explained, " and as many 
persons will not care to maintain absolute quiet while 
it is going on, I would advise those who are tired to 
leave now." 

The exodus that followed the announcement, while 
it was not large, created an unusual amount of excite- 
ment. When it was all over and order restored Judge 
McConnell began the delivery of his final instructions. 
He spoke clearly, distinctly and very rapidly. The 
jury and the lawyers listened to his every word with 
close attention. 

The prisoners were attentive listeners. When they 
did not follow the nervous movements of their prose- 
cutor, they looked almost appealingly into the jury-box. 
Kunze did not enjoy being used as a link when the 
state's attorney, in closing his address, began to forge 
the chain of evidence about the prisoners, which ran 



THE CRONIN CASE. 403 

from the president's desk of Camp 20 to the filth of 
the catch-basin on Evanston avenue. The little Ger- 
man scowled and moved uneasily in his seat. If it 
had not been for admonitions from his counsel, it is 
probable he would have made a demonstration. Burke 
laughed when Mr. Longenecker said it was impossible 
to forget his face after having once seen it. The rest 
of the prisoners showed no emotion. Coughlin's habi- 
tual scowl never left him; O'Sullivan chewed con- 
tentedly on a toothpick he got at dinner, and Beggs 
stared solemnly and sadly at the advocate, who did not 
spare him in the metaphorical forging of the chain. 
During this expressive spectacle, which was in many 
respects as dramatic as the closing hours of the great 
anarchist case, the bell of a neighboring cathedral 
began to toll with mournful melody. 

It was 3:35 o'clock when Mr. Longenecker closed 
his address. As he sat down the great audience pressed 
forward to hear the court read his instructions to the 
jury. The movement was accompanied with so much 
noise that order had to be enforced by the bailiffs, who 
hurried about in all directions. When quiet had been 
restored Judge McConnell, leaning upon the rail of his 
desk, began to read in a distinct voice his typewritten 
charge to the jury. 

Judge McConnell's charge to the jury was a most 
able, impartial review of the entire testimony. To the 
prisoners he gave the advantage of every doubt, and 
made plain to the jury exactly their duties and powers 
in the case and under the laws. 



CHAPTEE XXIX. 

The Jury Charged — A "Doubting Thomas" — How the Prisoners 
Bear Themselves — Jurors Retire — The Trunk, etc., sent to the 
Jury-Room — Waiting in the Cells — December 14th — No Ver- 
dict — In the Court-Room — About the Attempt to Bribe Juror 
Dix— Sunday, December 15th, and Yet No Verdict. 

Judge McConnelFs instructions occupied half an 
hour in reading, and the scene of breathless intensity 
in the packed court-room during this closing act of the 
trial was a memorable one. Not a move, not a sigh on 
the part of any of the jury escaped the eyes of the law- 
yers on each side. With bowed heads the twelve jurors 
listened attentively to the exposition of the law by 
Judge McConnell, an occasional look of inquiry show- 
ing where something perplexing had struck them. The 
character of the "doubting Thomas" in the jury-box 
had been given Mr. Culver, and as he sat with closed 
eyes and his hand pressed to his forehead during the 
judge's charge, the character seemed to fit him even 
more perfectly than before. As the judge defined cer- 
tain portions of law, evidently included in his instruc- 
tions at the request of the defense, Mr. Bontecou, on 
the rear row of chairs, betrayed a puzzled look of in- 
quiry, as if the settled opinion of his mind had been 
upset by such a statement. 

Bat closely as the audience w r atched the faces of the 
twelve as the issues of the trial w T ere being intrusted 
to them, the countenances of the prisoners offered even 
greater food for comment. 

Beggs' pale blue eyes were almost blinded with tears 

(404) 



THE CRONIN CASE. 405 

as the judge read the instructions prepared for him by 
Mr. Foster. Coughlin had lately shown signs of col- 
lapse The steady eye which at one time characterized 
the ex-detective had given way to a hunted look, wan- 
dering aimlessly around the court, a perpetual blink- 
ing denoting the mental agony of the man. Patrick 
O' Sullivan was ghastly pale, an expression of utter 
w T oe denoting this prisoner's keen appreciation of his 
peril. Martin Burke, the least concerned, from out- 
ward appearances, continued to chew. Young Kunze's 
affectation of unconcern totally deserted him. An ex- 
pression of pain settled upon his face as, fixing his 
gaze upon the floor, he listened to the words which 
comprised his last appeal for liberty. 

The following oath was administered to the bailiffs: 
"You and each of you solemnly swear by the ever-living 
God that you will take this jury to some private, con- 
venient place provided by the sheriff; that you shall 
keep them together, without eat or drink, water ex- 
cepted, unless ordered by the court; you shall not per- 
mit any person to speak to them, nor shall you speak 
to them yourselves about the case on trial, and when they 
have agreed upon their verdict to return them into this 
court with their verdict. So help you God.'' 

A moment later the jury retired. Mr. Culver, stop- 
ping to put on his overcoat, was urged by Bailiff Santa 
to rejoin the others lest a separation should mar the 
completeness of the verdict. 

A discussion followed as to what portions of the 
material evidence, such as the trunk, clothing, etc., 
should be sent to the jury-room. It was decided that 
the trunk, the valise in which the clothes were found. 



406 THE CRONIN CASE. 

the instrument case, the O'Sullivan cards, the trunk 
strap and the memorandum book could be given ; in 
short, every article offered in evidence except the Doc- 
tor's clothing was sent to the jury-room. 

Judge McConnell then ordered a recess until 8 
o'clock, and the big crowd slowly left the court-room. 
Hundreds of ladies, who braved the crowds that jammed 
every entrance to the building all day, made a deter- 
mined effort to retain their seats in the face of the or- 
ders of the bailiffs to get out, and some of them were 
only persuaded from remaining by threats of physical 
force. One of the incidents of the closing scene of the 
afternoon was Forrest's ostentatious distribution of a 
considerable sum of money among the defendants as 
they were marching from the room. He gave each 
man a $20 bill. 

Eight o'clock came and with it a bustling, tumultuous 
crowd, but no verdict was ready, and muttering their 
disappointment, the throng dispersed. 

When, after the adjournment of court, the prisoners 
were marched back to their cells, it was apparent that 
at least one of them realized the peril in which he stood. 
This was Dan Coughlin. On reaching his cell he threw 
himself prostrate on his bed and lay for Some minutes 
in a state of semi-stupor. He scarcely touched a mor- 
sel of his supper and feverishly gulped down his coffee. 
Then he lay full dressed upon his bed, waiting for the 
summons to hear his doom. 

All the other prisoners, likewise, lay in readiness to 
be called into court, although none of them exhibited 
the same emotion as the ex-detective, 



THE CRONIN CASE. 407 

Saturday, December 14, 1889. No verdict The 
hours dragged wearily for the crowd of people, inter- 
ested in the finding of the jury, in the well-packed 
court-rcom at ten o'clock in the morning. Mr. Dona- 
hoe appeared early and following him came Mr. Foster. 
Then Mr. Wing, Mr. Forrest and Mr. Qualey came; 
all were nervous and apprehensive, but not as much so 
as they had been the evening before. Newspaper 
men flocked in by the score and Dr. Cronin's friends 
began to fill the seats on the sides of the court. P. 
W. Dunne, John Devoy and John Joseph Cronin were 
bunched near the clerk's desk. In the back of the 
room sat Dan Coughlin's old father, in the midst of a 
group of Clan-na-Gael men, whose appearance caused 
Chief Hubbard some nervousness. 

" We have a strong force of men here," said the 
chief. " We do not expect trouble, but we don't want 
to take a chance with this crowd." 

The hands of the clock stole stupidly around, and 
the crowd smoked sulphurous cigars and lingered. 
Occasionally a bailiff fed them with a bit of more or 
less valuable information, which they gobbled hungrily. 
Most of the news was to the effect that Juror Culver 
was holding out. 

" He has stuck at Kunze," said one report. 

M He refuses to hang Beggs," said another. 

" He opposes the hanging of any of the prisoners," 
said a third rumor. Immediately Juror Culver became 
a subject for heated argument. A few men shook their 
heads sagely and said: "I knew it all along. The 
defense was bound to have some one right." 



408 THE CKONIN CASE. 

The general opinion was that Mr. Culver was a crank, 
and a verdict almost as general declared that he must, 
in addition to this, have a strain of depravity in his 
nature to maintain the suspense so long. 

Just now comes another story which is of the most 
startling importance. Juror Charles C. Dix a few days 
before the end of the trial had donned his overcoat at 
the Commercial Hotel, preparatory to beginning his 
march to the North Side. He placed his hand in one 
of the pockets for his gloves, and there found a large 
sealed envelope. Without opening it he handed the 
packet to Bailiff Santa, saying that it did not belong 
to him and wondering how it came in his pocket. 

Bailiff Santa handed the mysterious envelope to 
Judge McConnell, who opened it and found a letter and 
a necktie. The letter purported to come from an old 
friend, and though unsigned, the writer said that Dix 
would know from the handwriting from what source it 
came. The letter went on to say that if the juror 
w T ould hold out for acquittal, in order to cause a dis- 
agreement, and failing in this, should succeed in getting 
a verdict of imprisonment rather than death, $1,000 
would be his reward. "Now, don't be foolish," con- 
cluded the letter; "if you don't accept this offer some 
one else will, and you might as well have the money 
as any one, so long as it will surely be done. If you 
accept this chance of your life, let us know by wearing 
the enclosed necktie. Think twice before you refuse." 
But you see Juror Dix did not think once about the 
matter. He handed over the bribe to the proper party 
before he even knew that it was a bribe. 



THE CRONIN CASE. 409 

"Do you tliink there were any other letters placed 
in overcoat pockets about this time?" was asked of 
Attorney Kickhain Scanlan, who is the authority for 
this story. 

" We have not been able to find that out." 
"Did you ever find out who wrote that letter?" 
" No; but I believe that we will now that Mr. Dix is 
at liberty. Judge McConnell handed the letter and 
necktie over to the state's attorney, after perusing the 
former, and as soon as we had read it I went out to 
Mr. Dix's house, intending to bring his wife down to 
the state's attorney's office with me, to see if she could 
identify the hand-writing. Mrs. Dix was not at home, 
and could not be found. And do you know that when 
I returned Attorney Forrest knew all about my errand, 
where I had been, and what I had gone after," 
" Dix hasn't been seen about it yet then?" 
" I don't know that. I have had other things to do, 
and the matter has been placed in other hands. It 
will be seen to, though, you may be sure of that, in 
time for the jury-bribing trial." 

On Sunday, well-dressed, prominent supporters of 
the anti-Cronin faction found their way into the court- 
room. "They had ' inflooence,' you know," said an 
attache of the court, who seemed to think that some 
excuse for their presence was necessary. Pat Gibbons, 
William Coughlin, Harry and Hugh Jordan, Captain 
Carroll, Dennis Ward, Walter J, Gibbons, Tom Mur- 
phy, and Andy Duggan, were among the more promi- 
nent of the Triangle present at different times during 
the day. 



410 THE CBONIN CASE. 

Judge McConnell made his appearance from time to 
time, only to find that his presence was not required 
in an official capacity. In the city, and, indeed, through- 
out the whole country, the excitement caused by the 
suspense was intense. Great crowds gathered about 
the criminal court building, discussing the probable 
verdict, and growling at the tardiness of the iury 
Still no verdict. 



CHAPTEE XXX. 

The Verdict — A "Compromise "—General Disappointment — News 
of Agreement — Gathering to Hear It — Strange Contact — The 
Prisoners Arrive — The Jury Enter — Heady With Their Verdict 
— The Clerk Reads — Effect on the Defendants — About the 
Compromise — Of the Jury and the Verdict — A Brother's 
Indignation— " Camp 20 is on Top Now" — Beggs' Free Ad- 
vertisement — Loud-Spoken Discontent. 

THE VERDICT. 

John F. Beggs, not guilty. 

John Kunze, guilty of manslaughter, three years 
imprisonment. 

Daniel Coughlin, guilty of murder, imprisonment 
for life. 

Patrick O' Sullivan, guilty of murder, imprison- 
ment for life. 

Martin BuRKE,guilty of murder, imprisonment for life. 

At 2:30 o'clock on the afternoon of Monday, Decem- 
ber 16, 1889, the jury returned the above verdict. 

The suspense was over and the greatest trial of 
modern times was at an end. The sun, which rose in 
the morning on five suspects, set in the evening on four 
convicted murderers and one innocent man. The bru- 
tal assassination of May 4th, will, in some small meas- 
ure, be avenged. Not, it is true, according to the 
Mosaic doctrine of " an eye for an eye," or " a tooth for 
a tooth," but it will atone slightly for the atrociousness 
of Dr. Cronin's taking off. Lex Talionis was a dead 
letter, and many were the deep, hot murmurings be- 
cause of it. 

(4tt> 



412 THE CRONIN CASE. 

In official circles, among the friends of the murdered 
physician, and the general public, the dissatisfaction 
was most pronounced. None could discover in the 
verdict that philosophy which should govern the find- 
ings. If these three men, it was reasoned, were guilty 
of murder in the first degree, why were they not con- 
demned to capital punishment? Kunze, it was almost 
universally believed, should have been acquitted, but 
if he was considered guilty, his sentence was ridicu- 
lously inadequate. 

It was among the friends of Dr. Cronin, the officials 
who prosecuted the case, and citizens who fear the per- 
petuation and increase of a power that can do such 
deadly deads and scorn at the law — it was among these 
that the verdict met with most emphatic disapproval. 
With three of these men standing in the shadow of the 
gallows, it was believed that a confession would be ob- 
tained. Such a confession as would lead to the "dot 
in the circle," and this particular "dot" it was, and is, 
of vital importance, should be reached. The mind or 
minds from whose inner recesses this brutal conspiracy 
and assassination emanated was the acme aimed at by 
the law officials and the law-lovers. But with the 
"compromise" verdict, hope of reaching the "hid- 
den hand" was banished. The prisoners go to serve 
their sentence with the promise that their terms will 
be speedily curtailed by the pardoning power of the 
state. Such hope will close their lips for a number of 
years at least, and then there will be no witnesses to 
corroborate a confession if any should be made. 

A few minutes before two o'clock the news was car- 



THE CRONIN CASE. 413 

ried through the air that the jury had at last agreed, 
and the court-room quickly began to fill up. There 
was none of the disorder and bustle that marked the 
preceding session. The feeling that a few moments 
might bring death through the cruel iron passage-way 
lay cold upon their hearts. The tread of solemn men 
slowly trudging up the stairs was painfully careful. 
The bailiffs opened the doors and peered out with the 
expression of undertaker's assistants. On the street 
a great crowd gathered in the fine rain that was sifting 
down, and stories of hanging for all, for none, for two, 
for three of the prisoners, spread through the throng. 

At 2:15 the court-room was almost full of newspaper 
men, lawyers, policemen and the nearest friends and 
warmest enemies of the accused. 

There came slowly through the crowd a man whose 
hair and full beard were tinged with gray. He seemed 
to endeavor to avoid attracting attention. Several 
bowed to him, but he did not see anybody. He sat 
stolid, staring straight ahead, absorbed in thought, 
unconscious of his surroundings. 

John Joseph Oronin, seeing in his mind's eye the 
horrible scene which must have been enacted in the 
Carlson cottage on May 4th. 

Harvey Jordan, Tom Murphy, and Dennis Ward, 
supporters of his brother's assassins; sat close by him 
and John Devoy. 

Dan Coughlin's father, a stooped, care-worn old man, 
slipped in and took a seat just behind where his son 
must sit. 

The counsel for the prosecution and for the defense 



414 THE CRONIN CA.SE. 

were there except Mr. Donahoe. The severity of the 
nervous strain from which all these hardened pleaders 
were suffering was clearly written in their faces. 

The next three minutes were drawn out to the length 
of centuries. Chief Hubbard, whose countenance was 
grim and ominous, pulled out a chair into place where 
he could command the regiment of policemen in citi- 
zen's clothes who had quietly mingled with the crowd. 

The court-room became darker as the mist thickened 
on the window-panes and scarce enough light shone 
through to cast a distinct shadow. 

At 2:23 o'clock Judge McConnell took his seat. He 
looked apprehensive. His face was pale and his hands 
trembled slightly. 

A sound of bolting doors was heard. It was exactly 
2:26 by the clock. Sheriff Matson, who had been 
eagerly watching in the direction of the bridge leading 
into the jail, advanced to the entrance. There he 
wheeled about and walked toward the court-room. A 
moment later the prisoners appeared. As they were 
led into the box their faces were a study. All looked 
deathly pale and much excited, though straining to 
affect unconcern. 

Beggs came first. His mouth was tightly set. He 
reeled about like a drunken man. Once or twice he 
had to grasp the railing and the chair to steady himself. 

Coughlin looked anxious. His usually bright and 
clear eyes appeared dim andrestless. Ablack rim showed 
under the lids, and a continual unconscious wrinkling 
of 9 the eyebrows showed plainly the man's mental 
agony. 



THE CRONEN CASE. 415 

Patrick O'Sullivan was affecting indifference and 
tugging at his mustache. But his forehead showed 
deeper lines than at any time during the trial, while 
his small, beady, serpent-like eyes glared and flashed 
as diamonds set in jet. 

Burke seemed really the most unconcerned of them 
all. He was chewing something, as usual. His face 
was ghastly pale and somewhat drawn, but his manner 
was as careless as ever. 

Little Kunze was smiling, but smiling through tears. 
His eyes were bloodshot and watery. The boy was 
almost ready to break down. 

The jury, headed by Bailiff Santa, entered the court- 
room at 2:30. The jurors were evidently exhausted 
from excitement and the long confinement, but they 
looked like men who appreciated the gravity of the 
duty they were performing. Their faces bore expres- 
sions of decision and satisfaction with having at last 
reached an agreement. 

A bailiff's gavel fell upon the clerk's desk. It 
sounded like a cannon shot. In a moment a silence 
ensued that was palpable to the touch. 

" I presume you can represent Mr. Donahoe?" said 
Judge McConnell, addressing Mr. Forrest. 

" I am requested by Mr. Donahoe to represent him," 
said Mr. Forrest. " Mr. Donahoe is out of town, and 
X appear for Patrick O'Sullivan and John Kunze." 

" Gentleman of the jury," began Judge McConnell, 
" I understand you have reached a conclusion." 

Juror Clarke arose and bowed. 

" You may hand it to the clerk," said the corart, and, 



410 



THE CKONIN CASE. 



as the juror fumbled in his inside coat pocket for the 
paper, the judge added: " You can hand it to me, and 
I will give it to the clerk." The space between the 
juror and the clerk was crowded, and the judge passed 
the paper to the clerk. A dead silence followed. The 
clerk read: 

" We, the jury, find the defendant, John R Beggs, 
not guilty." 

A moment's pause, and the clerk continued: 




FOREMAN CLARK HANDS UP THE VERDICT. 

We, the jury, find the defendant, John Kunze, 
guilty of manslaughter, and fix his punishment at im- 
prisonment in the penitentiary for a term of three 
years." 

Another pause for breath, and then: 

"We, the jury, find the defendants, Daniel Cough- 
lin 7 Patrick O' Sullivan and Martin Burke, guilty of 
murder in the manner and form charged in the indict- 
ment, and fix the penalty at imprisonment in the peni- 
tentiary for the term of their natural lives." 



THE CRONIN CASE. 417 

Fate must surely have appeared in a sustaining 
vision unto John F. Beggs, so inflexibly composed was 
he as the clerk announced the jury's finding. Else he 
was nerved to meet his sentence as a man was never 
nerved who had not allowed the fairer portion of his 
life to wither before the dreary prospect that the future 
held out. He was as a piece of statuary, chill, pulse- 
Jess, passionless — as little susceptible to the natural 
emotions as was Aristotle's insensate man. 

With a carelessness of ease that seemed as a mock- 
ery to the occasion, he fished from his pocket a small 
piece of chewing tobacco, passed it into his mouth, and 
there nourished it until the gladdening phrase that 
gave him liberty and life was ended. His was a su- 
preme calm, a monstrous jest upon the law, its dignity, 
its terrors, and the hopes of those who clamorously 
asked for his blood. His future ascertained, he has- 
tily spat the tobacco from his mouth, and turned to 
greet his lawyer, Mr. Foster, with an effusiveness that 
had in it an element of such genuine sincerity that it 
was at once apparent his calm was but a pretense, his 
external indifference but a cloak to his inward agony. 
He had played his part, and played it with masterly 
cleverness. Not needing to subjugate his feelings, he 
loosed himself, flashed challenging eye-glances at the 
spectators, and was, as of old, the smiling, debonair 
Beggs, who mingled w T ith his fellows with such injudi- 
cious freedom as to jeopardize his life and imperil his 
reputation for ever and ever. 

John Kunze — created equally by Dame Fortune and 
Daniel Coughlin — divided with Beggs the clemency of 



418 THE CRONIN CASE. 

the jury. Judging from his half-averted, unquiet, 
flushed countenance, he had already suffered the tor- 
tures of immeasurable guilt. His eyes were riveted 
on some imaginary doom that rose up, spectre-like, to 
haunt him, and again had the haunted, terrified appear- 
ance of a man to whom punishment of one kind was 
as bad as another. He did not expect to be hanged, 
but he hardly dared to hazard a guess at the length of 
years he would be compelled to rust in the vile repose 
of a murderer's dungeon. His expression of fear was 
painful to behold. The muscles of his face twitched, 
he twisted and turned, and as the clerk was pronounc- 
ing his condemnation he grew ashen white and de- 
jected beyond description. His volatile nature was 
killed, and in its place had come a gravity of counte- 
nance that will remain with him while his memory re- 
tains the impression of the great dread fate he so 
narrowly escaped. 

Chief in crime and weakest at the moment of sen- 
tence was Daniel Coughlin. His fears seemed to 
weigh his feet to the ground as he shuffled into court, 
white as chalk. He sank into his chair, and strained 
his eyes about the room in search of one friendly 
glance, one face less vengeful than the rest, and, find- 
ing one, nodded in eager fashion. With him, as with 
Beggs, chewing tobacco was the artificial means em- 
ployed to control his features. Nothing, however, 
could conceal his intense trepidation. Slender, indeed, 
was his hope for life ; and he realized this in a manner 
that was pitiable to the spectator. Pulling at his mus- 
tache was varied by uneasy little glances toward the 



THE CRONIN CASE. 419 

clerk, as if he would forestall that functionary in his 
office and read his own fate. His throat seemed dry- 
as dust, and he gulped a dozen times, each time a 
spasm of pain shooting across his face. At the bare 
mention of his name in the reading of the findings, a 
burning color suffused his cheeks, mounted to his brow, 
and, receding as his life was willed to the state, left 
him almost corpse-white, with eyes that were fixed and 
dull, and features that had added to them years of age 
that they did not possess. Tears were succeeded by a 
haggard smile as Mr. Foster grasped his hand and 
congratulated him upon his fortune in escaping death. 

Martin Burke — type of the outlawed class, with eyes 
to kill with their glittering darkness — had himself 
fairly well in hand. He was unusually nervous, but 
was sustained at the crisis by a hasty word of comfort 
from Mr. Forrest. He fingered his mustache with a 
hand that had the paleness of a lily from surcease of 
toil and the quiver of agony that was not of the body. 
He heard his doom with signs of despair that fell as a 
blight and left him motionless, incapable of utterance, 
and chilled to the very heart. 

And Patrick O'Sullivan. Gross as is this man's na- 
ture, he was not so hardened that he did not quail. No 
longer malignantly defiant, no longer cruel to the sight, 
he was completely bowed and broken. Tears rushed 
to his eyes, and he suffered a change of countenance as 
rapid as it was indicative of humiliation and over- 
whelming despair. 

After the verdict was read Mr. Forrest asked that 
the jury be polled, and as each juryman's name was 



420 



THE CRONIN CASE. 



called he arose and answered the question of Clerk 
Lee: "Was this and is this your verdict?'* Each juror 
bowed or answered affirmatively. 

Judge McConnell then thanked the jurors for their 
services, and complimented them on the patience and 
conscientiousness with which they had done their duty. 

"The prisoner Beggs may be discharged," said the 
court, and he turned to the jury to say it could go. 




BEGGS THANKS THE JURY. 

As the jurors filed out of their box Beggs and his 
attorney, Mr. Foster, seized the hand of each and ex- 
pressed their gratitude for the jury's action. Tears of 
joy stood in Beggs' eyes, and tears of despair gushed 
from the sobbing Kunze. Beggs in his gladness 
brushed against the heart-broken little German. Two 
pictures more widely different in expression could 
scarcely be imagined. Beggs was beside himself with 
joy; Kunze was plunged into the depths of grief. 

Mr. Forrest asked the court to fix the time for hear- 



THE CKONIN CASE. 421 

ing a motion for a new trial, and it was agreed that the 
motion should be presented January 13. 

And thus ended a criminal trial that is the longest 
one known to the American bar, and the oldest crimi- 
nal lawyers say that the law tomes contain the record 
of no case its parallel in any way. The verdict was a 
complete surprise. To a certainty it was known that 
at noon of that day no agreement had been reached. 
Eleven of the jurors were still voting the death penalty 
for Coughlin, Burke and O'Sullivan, and only John 
Culver stood out for general acquittal. When the 
change came it came quickly. A compromise was made 
with Culver and life sentence substituted for hanging. 
It is an admitted fact that John Culver was the man 
who, up to 1 o'clock of December 16th, held the jury 
in disagreement Let him have all the credit to which 
his action may entitle him. 

THE JURORS AND THE VERDICT. 

It was with relief, not satisfaction, that the people 
received the verdict of the jury. The merits of the 
jurors, their patience, fortitude and integrity will be 
remembered in history. But the findings of the jurors 
are not satisfactory. Beggs will stand in the opinion 
of the public as a man more guilty than Kunze, and 
hardly less, or even more, guilty than Coughlin, Burke, ; 
and O' Sullivan. The evidence indicated him as a man 
closer to the persons, and more versed in the councils 
of the great conspirators to whom Coughlin, Burke, 
and O'Suliivan acted as bloody and willing tools, than 
were any of the doomed three. Nor will the sentence 



422 THE CRONIN CASE. 

of imprisonment for life gain any general approval, 
Opinions may and will differ as to the wisdom or jus- 
tice of the death penalty under any circumstances, but 
if ever murder were foul enough, cruel enough, suffi- 
ciently abhorrent to every instinct of humanity to merit 
blood atonement, it was the murder of Patrick Henry 
Cronin, by Coughlin, Burke, and O 1 Sullivan, at the in- 
stigation of a person, or of persons, as yet untried by 
law for the crime. 

Had the death penalty been the verdict, and capital 
punishment ensued, this jury would have deserved the 
thanks of this nation and the world. Then it would 
be known that no creatures or serfs of any secret 
league could do murder in this republic at the bidding 
of their infamous master or masters, and go unscathed 
of justice. t The power of oligarchs in crime would be 
quickly broken when their creatures became too terri- 
fied to do their bidding. This republic will become 
safe only when men, leagued in a federation of guilt, 
learn that the laws and ordinances of the United States 
are stronger than the oaths and plots of a band of 
assassins. 

The Cronin jury did much. It were better, far bet- 
ter, if it had done more — its whole duty. 

Dr. Cronin' s brother, John J. Cronin, was seen with- 
in a quarter of an hour after the verdict was read. 

"What have you to say about the verdict, Mr. 
.Cronin?" 

" It was hardly sharp enough. Blood was spilled, 
aye, blood was spilled, and they let the arch-conspirator 
go free, and the rest (with a very expressive gesture), 



THE CRONIN CASE. 423 

— the rest to be pardoned out, or got out somehow ! " 

" What would you have considered a righteous 
sentence?" 

"Coughlin, Patrick O'Sullivan, and Burke to be 
hung, Beggs a life sentence, and as for Kunze, they 
might have let the little fellow go free. But what is 
the use of talking?" 

Camp 20 held a meeting at the office of Attorney 
Ames in the evening. Mike Whalen, Tom Murphy, 
Harry Jordan, and other lights of the camp were there. 

Mr. Ames was satisfied with the verdict. " It's a 
victory for Camp 20," he said. "Camp 20 is on top now." 

Beggs went from the jail, where he had gone to get 
his goods, to the office of Murphy & Ames, at 81 Clark 
street, where he met many members of Camp 20, and 
where an informal reception was tendered the senior 
guardian. 

"Beggs will live right here in Chicago and continue 
in his profession," said Mr. Ames. "The advertisement 
he has received out of this trial will not hurt him with 
a large class of Irishmen, and I think he will do well." 

Beggs, and those with him, claim to respect a certain 
religious creed. Let this Cain and his co-plotters, his 
fellow-assassins, take what consolation they can from 
the following, copied verbatim from the Buffalo 
Catholic Union: 

"It is true that John F. Beggs is acquitted, but is 
there outside of prison bars in this broad land any 
crawling reptile of humanity, any debased outcast, so 
completely lost, so morally filthy, so utterly depraved, so 
blankly hopeless, that he would change places with the 



424 THE CRONIN CASE, 

unconvicted Beggs? Certainly if such freedom is a 
triumph, honest slavery is a blessing. 

"For the three men whose future will he passed in 
state's prison, the very fury of the American people at 
the cheating of the gallows will render pardon an im- 
possibility. In the face of the fact that they have been 
adjudged guilty of the most awful murder of the cen- 
tury, and yet have been spared the scaffold, no governor 
of Illinois will ever dare to outrage public sentiment or 
wreck his own future by wasted clemency toward the 
living offal just swept into prison pens." 

Ten, twenty, a hundred volumes such as this, would 
not contain the expressions of citizens in every grade 
of society and of the press throughout this country and 
abroad, giving vent to disapproval at the levity of the 
sentences given the three assassins, and the allowing 
of Beggs to go free. They were besmeared with Dr. 
Cronin's blood. The " deep damnation of his taking 
off," against which two continents cried out trumpet- 
tongued, was directly proven upon these miscreants. 
They dared not themselves take the witness-stand. 
They knew, each one of them, that he was deserving of 
the gallows. It was necessary for them to commit their 
lives to criminal lawyers, to "criminals' lawyers;" and 
the men chosen certainly executed every possible 
resource in their behalf. Their lives saved, the lives 
of three of them, and one goes free under a verdict 
equivalent to "not proven." The " hidden hand " or 
hands, wave a mocking salute while jauntily tripping 
past the figure of blinded justice. 

Dr. P. H. Cronin enjoyed a good income. How he 



THE CRONIN CASE. 425 

spent the money earned by lionest practice of his pro- 
fession, how he lavished his means to advance the 
cause so dear to his heart, how he kept himself poor 
and thought never of his own enrichment by plunder- 
ing, let this tell: 

4 'Theodore T. Conklin, the friend of Dr. P. H. 
Cronin, on December 23, filed in the probate court an 
inventory of Dr. Cronin's estate. Conklin is adminis- 
trator to collect and his report shows tbat the only 
property left by the murdered man consists of a library 
worth $300.00, and surgical instruments valued at 
$100.00. The inventory was approved." This brief 
statement requires no comment. 

But the dictator of the Triangle, and the murderous 
faction of the Clan-na-Gael, walks unmolested, careless, 
and receives the adoration of his devoted band. He 
laughs at the law and its boasted power, and lives luxu- 
riously on stolen wealth, to plot more assassinations 
against those who would expose the plundering and 
murders of the vilest clique of traitors, thieves and 
thugs that ever disgraced God's foot-stool. 

THE END. 

On January 13, 1890, Daniel Coughlin, Patrick 
O'Sullivan and Martin Burke were sentenced to im- 
prisonment for life. John Kunze was granted a new trial. 

The three life prisoners were taken to the peniten- 
tiary at Joliet the same evening. Coughlin now labors 
at stone cutting, O'Sullivan is learning to make shoes 
and Burke is at work in the cooper sjiop. 

Kunze was, a week later, released on bail of $5,000, 
and became a u freak" in a dime museum in Chicago. 



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Hasal Respirator 

Induces Breathing through the Nose when Asleep, 
PREVENTS SNORING, 

Prevents and Cures Dryness and Soreness of the Throat and Lungs, Enlarge- 
ment of Tonsils, and other more serious diseases caused and aggravated 
by Breathing through the Mouth while Asleep, such as Catarrh, 
Deafness, Pneumonia, Pulmonary and Bronchial 
Affections, Consumption, Etc., Etc. 



# : * 

Health Imparting; and Health. Restoring on Nature's easy 
and simple basis, by giving to the JLungs through the 
NOSTRIXS the Properly moistened and Tempered Air. 

JREXDERS SL.EEP MORE REFRESHING. 



SIMPLE AND EASY TO WEAR. 



Sent by Mail, Postpaid, to any address in any Country 
in the World, on receipt of price, $2.00. 



Indented by F5. S. Rhodes, 

...... INVENTOR OF 

Rhodes' Audiphone for the Deaf, 

The Xew Invention, enabling the .Deaf to Hear 
through the medium of the Teeth. 



•ADDRESS- 



Rhodes & MoClure Publishing Company, 

230 Lake Street, CHICAGO. 



DON'T SNORE 




£!£JOWS AHM 



THE AUDIP30NE. 



GOOD IEWS FOR THE DEAF. 



An Instrument that Enables Deaf Persons to Hear Ordinary Con- 
versation Readily Through the Medium of the Teeth, and 
those Born Deaf and Dumb to Hear and Learn 
to Speak. How it is Done, Etc. 



The Audiphone is a new instrument made of a peculiar 
composition, possessing the property of gathering the faint- 
est sounds (somewhat similar to a telephone diaphragm), 
and conveying them to the auditory nerve, through the 
medium of the teeth. The external ear has nothing what- 
ever to do in hearing with this wonderful instrument. 

It is made in the shape of a fan, and can be used as such, 
if desired. 

When adjusted for hearing, it is in suitable tension and 
the upper edge is pressed slightly against one or more of 
the upper teeth. 

Ordinary conversation can be heard with ease. In most 
cases deafness is not detected. 

The Audiphone is Patented throughout the civilized world. 



PRICE: 

Conversational, small $6.00 

Conversational, large $6.00 



The Audiphone will be sent to any address, on receipt of price, by 

RHODES & McCLURE, 

Ag*?te for the World, 

CHICAGO, ILL 

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